Hourglass
by LastFright
Summary: Ghosts are the souls of those that have died. Spirits are not ghosts. They were never alive and never died. They are forces of nature created to keep order. With Time comes Death. Death was imprisoned in fear of being too hard to control, but freed by a certain halfa by accident. When a strange girl named Raven arrives in Amity Park, insanity ensues.
1. Shock Waves Go Up In Smoke

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Prologue: Shock Waves Go Up In Smoke**

The Ghost Zone. A pocket dimension, home of lost souls. A dimension of mystery, horror, wonder, and beauty.

In the farthest reaches of this mysterious world, lay Pariah's Keep, the home of the Fright Knight and the Ghost Zone's former ruler, Pariah Dark. Throughout the area, wisps of purple clouds littered the swirling green and black skies, and a single blood-red Gothic castle floated on a massive slab of green rock. Few would go here willingly as it housed the most feared ghost in history. No one would forget the reign of King Pariah, who ruled the Ghost Zone with an iron fist. He showed mercy to no one and crushed all his enemies. Pariah had worn the Ring of Rage and the Crown of fire, which gave the bearer power beyond imaginable. He alone could control that power and no one dared to try to take the artifacts.

Long ago, the Ancients had imprisoned him in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep, as punishment for his crimes throughout the Ghost Zone. The Ring was taken from him as it contained no power without the Crown of Fire, and vice versa. With the only skeleton key to unlock the Sarcophagus sent hurtling through the Ghost Zone, everyone had assumed that Pariah would never be awakened again, after all no one would ever be so foolish as to release such a threat.

They were wrong.

The halfa, someone who is half ghost and half human, known as Vlad Plasmius, sought out the power promised by the ring and the crown and wanted to rule the Ghost Zone as the next king. In doing so he inadvertently released Pariah so he could retrieve the Crown of Fire. After being thrown back to the mortal world, Vlad manipulated his enemies to fight the ghost king. Danny Fenton, the second halfa in existence traveled to Pariah's fortress to defeat the tyrant and protect Amity Park, his home.

The fortress was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of green skeleton warriors that glowed faintly in the dim light of the eerie world. Hundreds of ghosts attacked the skeletons. Skulker obliterated them with his missiles. Ember blasted them with her guitar. Dorathea burned them to a crisp. Klemper encased them in ice and snow. The Box Ghost wrapped them up in his bubble wrap (of death). Each and every ghost did their best to hold off the onslaught of skeletons as they watched the teenage boy in an ecto-skeleton fly towards the door. The suit he wore was black and white with a glass dome protecting his head. It had his insignia on the front, a white 'D' with a 'P' as the shape on the inside of the first letter. Danny flew through the long passages and hallways straight to the throne room. He landed in front of the door.

"Well, this is it" he said to no one in particular. Danny silently hoped that the ecto-skeleton would hold up against Pariah. The suit was by his parents and they had rushed to finish it so they could fight off the Ghost King. The interface was still dangerous and could easily kill him if he exerted himself too much. He then proceeded to blast the doors out of his way. The doors flew off their hinges and partly lay on the floor from the abuse. Almost instantly dust clouds sprung into the air, shrouding his vision through the glass dome of the suit. When the thick white smoke dissipated, Danny saw Pariah Dark standing in front of him, a mace in his right hand and, a huge grin plastered over his white face. Danny growled, hate bubbling up inside of him as he realized how confident Pariah was that he would be victorious.

"A little ragged round the edges, eh, child?" .asked Pariah while he still grinned smugly.

"Whaddya say...We ditch the snappy patter, and get right to the part where I kick your butt!" retorted Danny, as he halved the distance between the two of them. Danny watched as the smug grin was wiped off of his opponent's face.

"Very well, I accept your TERMS!" roared the Ghost King, as he flew towards the ghost boy, his right hand outstretched as he prepared to strike him. Danny saw the older ghost flying towards him and quickly put his hand up to protect himself. His hands glowed with an icy blue energy as he formed a glowing blue shield around himself. The King landed with a loud crack as he slammed his mace on the shield with all his might, trying to break through. The energy from the attack was devastating. The impact caused the area around them to shake as Danny struggled to hold up the shield. His quickly glanced down and saw the numbers signifying his power drop at an alarming rate before it stopped and leveled out, just as the force of the rebounding energy from the attack threw Pariah backwards.

Danny was exhausted. Pariah hit him once and Danny could barely take it. He refocused on the battle. Danny was not going to let the bad guy know that he was tired. He was not going to give up, not now. Danny glared at Pariah as the larger ghost stumbled backwards, still dazed from the rebound, before reclaiming his footing, and glaring right back at him. Danny took a leap forward and slammed his hands together, sending a large blue beam of ectoplasmic energy straight at the Ghost King, hitting him in the face and sending Pariah hurtling into the throne. Danny's hands still glowed with energy from the attack when he felt a sudden headache. The suit was draining too much of his power. He was getting light-headed and felt a bit dizzy from all the energy he was using.

"Having that much power, it's a burden, isn't it, child?" taunted Pariah as the white ghost rose out of the grey clouds of dust and crumbling stone. Pariah leaned back, took aim, and then threw his mace at Danny, who flew into the air to avoid the green spiked weapon, and flew towards the king, ready to give him a punch to the face. However, the Ghost boy had not anticipated for the weapon to circle around and fly towards him again. The weapon caught the unprepared teenage in the back. The blow knocked the air out of his lungs, winding him for a couple of moments as he tumbled down to the ground. Somehow Danny managed to land on his feet in front of Pariah, who caught the flying mace in his hand. As the Ghost boy shakily stood up at full height to send an attack towards his opponent, Pariah spun, building up momentum and power before sending a flying kick to Danny's chest. WHAM! The tyrant's steel heeled boot hits its mark with a reverberating sound. The impact shook the foundations of the castle as Danny was sent flying towards one of the columns of the fortress, before falling on his side. Danny struggled to get back up as the sweat drips down his face. He had bruises as over his body from Pariah's onslaught, and even though the suit greatly amplified the halfa's powers he was still unable to defeat the king. Pariah didn't even seem fazed at Danny's attacks and seemed to be barely tired. The layers of metal separating him hand Pariah didn't seem to do anything to protect Danny from the kick.

"The power isn't the burden" said Danny as he used his arms to support him as he gets back on his feet, "The burden is in how I use it. And I've been using it poorly lately." Danny remembered how he treated everyone before and instantly feels a burning desire to show Pariah that he was _not_ weak and _could _defeat him. Danny hovered a few feet in the air, glowing a faint blue as he concentrated. Danny reached deep inside of himself, thinking about splitting himself, trying to duplicate himself as Vlad had done many times in the past. Danny imagined his core separating into 2 ... 3 ... 4 parts. When he opened his eyes, floating next to him are three clones with him. Glancing down, Danny saw that he only had 25% of his power left. All four Dannies then flew straight for Pariah, ready to attack the Ghost King. Two of the Dannies simultaneously fired their ecto-beams at Pariah from different directions. Another repeatedly punched the ghost on his back and a fourth ran circles around the king, firing his own ecto-beams. The three beams bombarded Pariah, who was trying to shield himself from the attacks, with a loud ZAAAARK!

All the while, Pariah got angrier and angrier, biding his time until he could get more power. Suddenly Pariah thrust his arms out, sending the Dannies stumbling away. He then swung his mace, catching the Danny that had been circling him in the stomach, destroying it. The real Danny frowns, annoyed that one of his clones had been destroyed so easily. He flew to the distracted Ghost King and runs into Pariah, knocking the larger ghost onto the cold stone ground, on his face, with a thud. The three remaining Dannies walked up to the fallen king. They stood over Pariah, glares on their faces.

"Now leave my town ALONE!" all three said simultaneously, before punching the Ghost King in the face.

Amity Park floated as its own island in the Ghost Zone. However, for a split second, the dark green and purple skies returned to the normal shade of blue, before flickering back to the colors of the Ghost Zone. The few individuals that witnessed this were surprised at the sudden change.

"Woah." said Tucker Foley, staring in disbelief at the sky. _Is Danny beating Pariah? Is that why that just happened?_ Samantha Manson stared, just as shocked, with her friend, wondering if Danny was alright.

Pariah was stunned for a brief moment, having not expected the jab, but quickly recovered. He raised his arm and let his built up energy out through his mace, in one powerful ecto-beam. The red beam of light hit one of the Dannies on the chest, sending him hurtling a few yards before he dissipated into smoke. Pariah rose from the stone floor, mace still smoking from the blast, and his black cape flowing behind him. The remaining Dannies flew back a few feet, trying to avoid getting hit with an ecto-beam.

"Surrender, child! You can't possibly win!" Pariah claimed, confident in his victory. His smug grin returned to his face as he thought of the ways he could torture the Ghost boy after the battle.

_He's right. There's no way I can beat him. I don't have enough power left. I can't keep this up much longer. But maybe_... "I don't have to win" said one of the Dannies. He charged up another ecto-beam. The energy pulsated in his hands, before he shot it at a wall where the king's throne had once stood. The ancient stone crumbled away, revealing another room. In the center, stood a black, red, and green sarcophagus shrouded in a pale green light. "I just have to make sure that you lose!" said the same Danny, a determined look on his face.

The Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. The prison that had held Pariah for thousands of years. The one thing Pariah truly feared. The Ghost King felt his eyes widen at the sight of the horrid artifact. _NO! I can't go back in there!_

One of the Dannies flew over and held open the inside of the vessel was asphalt grey. The sight of it sent shivers down Pariah's back. The trembling king took a few steps backwards, too shocked to say anything, and too scared to blast the younger ghost away from the dreaded coffin. The idea of being inside of the sarcophagus again terrified Pariah.

The Danny holding open the door of the coffin pointed his finger at the king, and sent a small blast of energy at Pariah who was still surprised at the sight of the sarcophagus. The blue ecto-beam hit the Crown of Fire and knocked it off of its master's head, as well as bringing the king out of his surprised state. The flaming crown landed in the hand of the Danny that stayed behind. Flickering flames, cast dark shadows across the face of the Danny as he smiled coldly.

"No! NO!" yelled Pariah when he realized that without the crown, he was a step closer to being defeated. He felt a strange feeling well up inside of him. Something that made him want to crawl away and hide in a corner. _Could it be? Could I be feeling... Fear?_

The Danny with the crown threw it on the ground behind him. The flaming headpiece landed on the stone floor with an audible CLINK! It lay unceremoniously on the floor, forgotten. The Danny then flew into the larger ghost, and pushed Pariah towards the waiting Sarcophagus. The unwilling king used all his strength to keep his feet in the same place. Danny struggled to push the Ghost King forward. Pariah's feet seemed to be rooted to the spot he was standing, however, ever so slightly, they were forced forward, inch after inch, after inch. The Danny's face shone with sweat as he continued to go against Pariah. With a final thrust, the ghost boy channeled all his remaining energy into the suit, propelling him forward, and pushing the towering specter into the coffin. The Danny that had been waiting at the door quickly shuts the Sarcophagus closed. The Danny, who had forced Pariah inside, turned into a blue mist and returned to the real Danny, having run out of energy to stay separated.

Bright blue rings appeared around the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep as it tried to seal Pariah inside. The king struggled inside of it, desperately trying to break out of the prison. He tossed and turned, trying to tire the boy so he could escape. The king's attempts shook the fortress, loose rubble fell from the ceiling as it threatened to cave in, sealing both specters within the keep.

Far away, the city of Amity Park experienced the same thing. Blue rings appeared and spin wildly around the floating land mass. The citizens watched terrified, wondering what was about to happen to them.

At Pariah's keep, the Sarcophagus still shook violently, as Danny tried to hold the door in place. Sweat dripped down his face, as Pariah continued to defy the prison. The hero drooped his head, and watched helplessly as the numbers dropped.

_10%...9%...8%..._

Inside the Sarcophagus, Pariah screamed, refusing to succumb to the magic that was trying to make him sleep.

_7%...6%...5%..._

Danny was exhausted. He has never felt so tired in his life. He felt himself slowly falling onto the floor. His vision was clouded and black spots swam before him, making him feel dizzy. Danny felt the darkness take over as he slumped down on the ground.

_I failed. Pariah is going to break loose and destroy everything. I failed them..._ He thought as he closed his eyes.

As Pariah is about to break down the door, a black gloved hand inserted a green skeleton key into the lock and locked the door, sealing Pariah inside. The air around the prison shimmered briefly as the spell took over. The area flickered black and white from the amount of power and light radiating from the shaking sarcophagus, and a pair of brilliant blue rings appear once more, circling the coffin, as the spell is completed. Pariah's final screams are lost to the wind as he falls into unconsciousness. Grey plumes of smoke billow off of it as the room quiets down. The king's defeat sent powerful shock waves throughout the Ghost Zone alerting everyone of Pariah's defeat. The power from the spell was spread out in all directions, reaching every corner of the endless dimension.

In Amity Park the green skies of the Ghost Zone dissipated and were replaced with the tranquil blue the denizens were familiar with. The city teleported back to the mortal realm after Pariah had been defeated. Pariah's skeleton warriors that had been in the city turned a light brown, and quickly exploded into dust. The people cheer as they realized they were saved.

Far away, in the darkest parts of the Ghost Zone, where only the brave dare to explore, lay a black door. Like the hundreds of other doors in the Ghost Zone this door was floating. It lacked a wall and had nothing to hold it in place. Anyone that saw the door would think nothing of it as they had seen many doors like it throughout the ghostly world. However, if it were to be touched the door would start to burn with an intense heat, making it impossible to open.

When Pariah had been defeated, the door had been within the radius of the resulting shock wave. The massive amount of energy swept past the door, and continued on its way until the energy had been evened out. The door had been left unscathed as had everything else the wave of energy had touched. Everything seemed the same. However, something had indeed happened. Some of the energy from the ripple managed to get past the door and continued to expand in one direction, in the room the door had led to.

The room was dark. It was so dark, nothing could be seen within. No one could tell where the walls met the floor, or even if the room had walls. The darkness seemed to be infinite and absolute, spreading in all directions, save for the single source of light in the everlasting shadows; a glowing sphere, the size of a young child. The orb was floating in what appeared to be the middle of the room, if it could be called a room. It was nestled within the shadows, the light pulsating like the heartbeat of something living. The orb glowed with a soft white light that contrasted greatly with the black nothingness around it. It seemed to be old. Very old. It probably glowed with a much brighter light centuries ago, but then dimmed over time, like a fire without fuel. The pulses seemed to get slower with every second, as if it had been dying for a while.

When the ripple of energy passed through the orb, it almost looked as if the energy was absorbed into the sphere, like it was drawing in the loose energy. The orb began to glow brighter, as it took in the energy around it. The pulsing light began to take on a sound; a soft thumping, or more accurately a ticking sound, similar to that of a clock.

_Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock...Tick...Tock..._

The seconds passed by, slowly, and something unexpected happened.

_Crack!_

A small crack appeared in the center of the sphere. It was so small no one would have noticed it.

_Crack!_

The single crack started getting bigger, gliding up the sphere, and then spreading out like a spider web. Thin lines appeared all over the orb as it grew brighter and brighter. The lines twisted and turned making lefts and rights, until the sphere could take no more. When the light had gotten blindingly bright, the orb collapsed in on its self, succumbing to the thing spidery cracks. The shards fell onto the dark floor and broke into even smaller pieces, and the sound of glass falling echoed throughout the void. The only source of light in the dark room had been extinguished and darkness enveloped the space where the light had once been. If there had been any light in the room, one would notice the tiny wisps of red smoke pouring from the shards on the floor. The crimson tendrils of smoke banded together and flew out of the room through the thin cracks in the door. It flew in a specific direction towards the closest portal to the mortal world. The smoke traveled as if it had a consciousness, as if it were alive, and had a goal.

No one noticed the stray tendrils of gas flitting from door to door, searching for one that lead to the human world. The smoke stopped in front of an octagonal piece of metal. It had a metallic outer rim bolted to a nonexistent wall, and s black and yellow striped doorway. The red smoke sensed that it was a way out, but could not seem to get through the doorway. Suddenly, the doors slide apart. The red smoke quickly raced through the portal.

"Nothing like fishing for ghosts to pass the time" said a large man wearing an orange and black jumpsuit. He pulled out a fishing pole with a glowing white line that was designed to hold onto ghosts. He looked like he spent a good amount of time eating fudge and was overly peppy. The oblivious man failed to notice as the tendrils of smoke zipped pass him, out of the doorway, out of the house, and into the open sky. It then flew off, searching for a safe place to hide while it gathered more energy.

* * *

LF: Last Fright here. Hi everyone! This was my first story and I hoped you all liked it so far! Please read and review! I even accept flames.

_Dan: It was mainly the battle. What the heck were you doing?! You didn't have to explain every detail of what was happening!_

LF: Sorry :( I just felt that some people wouldn't get the story if they haven't watched the episode. Besides, why are you here anyway?

_Dan: 'Cause I'm awesome._

LF: That makes no sense .

_Dan: Your story makes no sense!_

LF: I...You...ARRRG! Anyway, if any of you find any grammar, spelling, tense mistakes, please leave a comment and tell me about it so I can fix it.

_Dan: I bet the whole story is full of mistakes. After all, it was a mistake to even write it._

LF: *whining voice* Why are you so mean to me Dan?


	2. New Students Are Teacher's Pets

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 1: New Students Are Teacher's Pets**

Amity Park. A quaint city in the United States of America. A city where the paranormal is not so unusual. Amity Park is a city where people experience the day to day life of any other person and the extraordinary world of ghosts and specters. The city was known for its glorious weather, beautiful buildings, ghost attacks, and ridiculously high property damage rates. This large city is home to the ghost boy, Danny Phantom. To some, the specter was a menace, to others, he was a hero, and to a certain green blob in a mechanical suit with a flaming green Mohawk and goatee, he was prey.

BOOM!

A missile hit and blew up a nearby silver Honda. The deadly projectile had just barely missed the ghost boy, who was floating in the air in front of the hunter. Danny had moved out of the way just in time to save himself, but not the demolished car that was smoking behind him.

"What's wrong Skulker? Can't hit a moving target?" taunted Danny, arms crossed on his chest, while he stared down the other ghost. It had been a few months since the defeat of Pariah, and the hunter was eager to fulfill the promise he made that day to hunt the ghost child. Skulker's eyes bored into the teenage ghost, wishing he could catch the cocky halfa. His pelt would make a great rug after all.

"Why not make it easy on both of us, and just HOLD STILL?!" yelled Skulker, raising his arms at shoulder level. Several missiles sprang out of the hidden slots of Skulker's mechanical arms and shoulders. Skulker took aim at Danny and fired his weapons without a second thought. The red and white projectiles shot away from the mechanical limbs and flew towards the ghost boy, thick smoke trailing after them.

_How did those even fit inside the suit? _Wondered Danny as he gracefully flew around the missiles, doing loops and dives, finally getting close enough to the hunter to land a powerful uppercut to the metallic chin. Screws and bolts flew in all directions as the fist landed on its target. Skulker was knocked into the air, flying a few feet further into the sky before he gained control and flew straight for Danny. He raised his right arm and a mini blaster came out of one of the many hidden compartments. He shot at the ghost boy. Several electric green lasers flew out towards the teen. Danny lurched backwards as the lasers shot past him. More lasers shot past him, and Danny dodged them with ease.

"Hah! You missed me!" said Danny triumphantly. "Wow Skulker. You're really off your game. Since when did you go from Lame Town to Loserville?" ask Danny as he looked back at his enemy, only to realize he wasn't there.

_Where did he go? _thought the ghost boy as he looked around him for the hunter. Suddenly a neon green net hurtled towards Danny. The ghost net took the teen by surprise and trapped him. The net's momentum threw him onto the ground. Danny winced as he hit the grey asphalt, the force of the fall temporarily stunning. Skulker turned visible again, and flew down to the captured ghost. As soon as Danny's mind processed what had happened, he instinctively tried to turn intangible and phase out of the net. As soon as he tried to activate his intangibility, Danny felt the shock of a few thousand volts of electricity course through his veins. The pain was so intense, Danny almost reverted to his human form. It took all his will power to stay in his ghostly form and even more to keep from yelling at Skulker when the hunted picked up him up. _Knowing Skulker, he would probably try to kill me right now if I did say anything._

"Hah. No one to save you now, Whelp. Maybe I should take your head right now." said Skulker, smirking as he enjoyed the victory.

_Maybe I should have said something. Where are Tucker and Sam when you need them_, thought Danny as he silently hoped his friends would show up with the Fenton Thermos

"Any last words, ghost child?" asked Skulker as he leaned towards Danny.

"Yeah, just a few. You seriously need a breath mint dude." retorted Danny trying to get away from the mechanical ghost. _Where are they? They should be here by now!_

"Why you little-" Skulker failed to finish his sentence as a vacuuming sound could be heard and he was sucked into a thermos, a Fenton Thermos to be exact. Behind the spot Skulker once stood, were Danny's friends. Samantha "Sam" Manson and Tucker Foley. Sam wore her regular black tank top, green and black plaid skirt, purple leggings and black combat boots. Tucker wore his yellow long sleeve shirt, olive green cargo pants, brown boots, and a red beret. Sam held the thermos in her hands, a thin stream of smoke poured from the thermos before being cut off when Sam put the lid on the thermos.

"Where would you be without us Danny?" asked Sam as Tucker pulled the net off of their friend.

"I'd be on the floor of Skulker's lair as a rug" said Danny as he got off the floor. He looked around to make sure there was no one around him other than his friends. When he was sure no one could see him, icy blue rings appeared around his waist and separated, turning Danny Phantom into Danny Fenton. The black and white hazmat suit turned into a white t-shirt with a red oval, blue jeans, and red and white converses. Silver hair turned black and neon green eyes turned sky blue. "Common guys, let's throw Skulker back into the Ghost Zone and then get to school" said Danny when his transformation was finished.

"Dude, since when do you care about school so much?" asked Tucker as he handed his friend his backpack.

"Since Lancer decided to make us write an essay on the American Revolution." replied Danny as he donned his violet backpack. "I need to get to the library to do some research."

"Well, at least we have five minutes to get to school." said Sam as she gave Danny the Fenton Thermos.

"Yeah we ha- WAIT! FIVE MINUTES?! WE'RE LIKE THREE BLOCKS AWAY FROM MY HOUSE!" screamed Danny as he thought of all the things that would go wrong.

"Dude, you can fly to your house. Then you can just fly us all to school. No biggie." said Tucker. His calmness was a sharp contrast to the screaming of his friend.

"Right... Just gotta send Skulker back. Wait here guys. I'll be right back." said Danny, calming down before he transformed into his alter ego once more and flying in the direction of Fentonworks. Danny phased through the walls and through the floor, to the lab. Thankfully his parents were out, otherwise he would have a few dozen anti-ghost weapons aimed at him. Danny walked up to the portal and put the thermos in a hole near the console. After pushing a few buttons, Skulker was sent into the Ghost Zone.

Somewhere in the Ghost Zone, a little green blob let out a roar of anger and frustration at getting beat once more.

Danny pulled out the thermos and placed it in his backpack.

_You never know when you might need it again _he thought as he phased through the house and flew back to his friends.

"45 seconds. New record. Nice job!" exclaimed Tucker as Danny landed in front of him.

"Don't thank me yet. We still need to get to school. Come on." Danny grabbed his friends' hands and took off to the air.

Sam blushed as she realized whose hand she was holding. Sam quickly regained her composure as she felt the wind rushing past her as they flew to Casper High. The sky was a blue grey and housed a few white puffy clouds. The sun shone on their backs as they drew closer to the high school. The school was three floors high and had an American flag at the top, Red bricks provided support for the windows outlined in high schools front yard was littered with teenagers talking, walking, bullying, and studying. At the height the three friends were at, the people looked like little ants, scrambling around to fit in. Because the front was so crowded, Danny landed them behind the school, near the dumpsters, where he transformed back into a human.

"The dumpsters really?" asked Sam as she held her nose. The smell coming from the garbage was nauseating.

"It was the only place free." said Danny with a shrug.

"Guys, we might wanna hurry up. Lancer will yell at us if we're late again." said Tucker, winding his way into the conversation.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker strolled to the front of the red brick building and went inside. The inside was a emptier than the outside had been, but soon would be filled to the brim with teenagers as they hurried to each of their classes. The spring green walls were the nearly same color as the lockers which were a shade darker. The grey tiled floors were boring as always. Not a single person seemed to care that the three friends arrived on time for once. The trio walked to their lockers to get their books, following the procedure they had grown used to. They grabbed their textbooks before they headed off to their first period class, English with Mr. Lancer. The room was not too far away. The grey doorway seemed extremely out of place against the green walls. As the group took their individual seats, the bell rang and mobs of people swarmed inside the school. People that had come in through the door, looked somewhat shocked that Danny was in his seat before some of them, though that shock quickly turned to boredom as each person took his or her seats.

_Dash, Kawn, Star, Paulina. Looks like all the A-listers are here _thought Danny as the popular teens took their seats. Dash glared at Danny while taking his seat. Kwan gave Danny a glare as well. Star and Paulina lifted their heads and scoffed at the people around them. The hallways were soon as silent as they had been a minute ago. A few moments later, Mr. Lancer walked through the door. He was wearing his blue polo shirt, black tie, grey striped slacks, and black dress shoes. His teal eyes scanned the room, and were surprised to see Danny in his seat already.

"Well, Mr. Fenton, I'm glad to see that you are taking this class seriously, for today at least." he said before straightening his crooked tie. A few snickers could be heard from around the room. "Anyway, class, we have a new student today. I want you all to welcome her with the good old Casper High way." The students in the room seemed to be as bored as usual. Some seemed to have fallen asleep already while others seemed half dead. Mr. Lancer sighed. The _Grapes of Wrath! This is class is hopeless!_

Suddenly the door opened, and another girl stepped inside. She looked around the age of 15 and had bright green eyes partially covered by her long black bangs. She wore long sleeve, indigo, V-neck shirt with a silver 'V' shape going around the waist, midnight grey pants that were white near the bottom, simple black flats and a silver headband amidst her long black hair. A blue grey sash was around her hips, acting as a belt. She was very pale. It seemed as though she hadn't been out in the sun for her whole life. Had she not had a mischievous grin on her face, many would have thought she was sick.

"This is Miss Raven Mors. She has recently moved to Amity Park, so I expect you all to treat her fairly." said Mr. Lancer glaring at a few of the students that he knew were troublemakers. A few students shifted uncomfortably under the teacher's gaze." Miss Mors, You are free to sit wherever you wish."

"Thank you Mr. Lancer" she said. Her voice was quiet and calming. Raven looked around and chose a seat near the back. When she sat down Mr. Lancer spoke up once more.

"Now that the pleasantries are over, we shall begin class. Today we will be discussing the requirements for your essay that is due next Monday. That means you have a week to research, outline, and type it" said Mr. Lancer as he picked up a piece of chalk. He turned around and started writing on the blackboard behind him. Most people in the class stared at the board with glassy eyed expression, while some started texting each other on their phones. Danny took out some paper and a pencil and started copying down everything Mr. Lancer wrote on the coal black board. Second after second, minute after minute, time just ticked away as Mr. Lancer explained every little detail about the essay.

_If my grade in this class wasn't as low as it is, I would get some sleep _thought Danny ruefully. He was tired from fighting ghosts during the night and having an English paper due on Monday didn't exactly lessen the stress. He looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention. Everyone seemed to either be focused on their phones or sleeping. Sam was doodling in her notebook and Tucker was doing something on his PDA. Danny turned around and looked in the direction of the new student. Raven was looking at the board and copying down every last word. She didn't even bother to look down at her notes; instead Raven continued to scribble down the requirements. _She probably doesn't even need to do the essay since she's a new kid. Lucky her. Why do we even ha-_

"Remember, I expect you to have five paragraphs. One will be an introductory paragraph, another will be the conclusion, and three will be body paragraphs" said Mr. Lancer, interrupting Danny's thoughts. The teacher put his piece of chalk down. The blackboard was covered in writing and bullet points. A few words had been underlined to exaggerate their importance.

Danny hurried to copy the list down. Danny was a few points off from getting his 'C' to a 'B' and he was determined to get a good grade on this assignment, no matter what. _I'll probably get a 'D' though. With my luck Technus is gonna try to take over the world again._

"Miss Mors," said Mr. Lancer, "I am not requiring you to do this assignment. You are new to this class and you weren't here for the days we talked about the topic."

_Called it, _thought Danny as he felt a small spark of annoyance at the new student's luck.

"Actually, if it is alright with you, I would like to do the essay anyway." replied Raven, as she put down her pencil to properly address her teacher.

Mr. Lancer was stupefied. Never before had one of his students willingly done an essay before, especially after he told them they didn't need to do it. Usually the student would just thank him and then leave or something. "Of Mice and Men! Why on Earth would you want to do it?!" exclaimed the teacher.

"It would be good practice for future essays. Besides, I should have to not do an assignment just because I'm new." she said casually, as if she had expected the question.

"Well... I suppose you can, if you really want to, but I don't expect you to do it." said Mr. Lancer, still baffled at the decision.

"Thank you." said Raven respectfully. Mr. Lancer was not accustomed to being treated well. Most of the students would call him lame behind his back. Others would pick on him for being boring. It was a nice change to be respected for once. He liked it.

_Finally, someone that appreciates my hard work, _thought Mr. Lancer as the bell rang, signifying the end of the first class of the school day. The shrill noise startled the teenagers in the class from their sleep. They quickly grabbed their bags and filed out of the classroom, eager to get through the rest of the morning classes so they could go to lunch. Danny grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. H waited as his friends grabbed their things and they headed out together to their next class, Chemistry. As the trio left the classroom, Danny turned around and noticed Raven had stayed behind to ask some more questions.

"Great. The new kid is a teacher's pet. Just what we needed in that class" said Danny sarcastically. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Yeah", said Sam, "What's her deal?"

"The girl has some issues" agreed Tucker. "It's like she loves school or something."

The group continued on their way to Chemistry, unimpressed by the new kid, wondering what they had done to deserve another suck up at the school.

_The day just keeps getting better and better, _thought Danny bitterly as he entered his next class.

* * *

LF: Hey guys! I'm back and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Again, I would like it if you can point out the mistakes in the writing. Please read and commentate on my writing. I am always looking to improve and any advice you can give me would be great!

Dan: You're gonna need a LOT of advice if you want to improve that garbage.

LF: Hey! That's not very nice Dan! Wait. You're evil, why would you ever be nice?

Dan: Exactly.

LF: Watch it mister, or I might just write you into this story (evil laughter).

Dan:..._ohhhhhh._ I'm _soooo_ scared.

LF: _Grrrrrr._ Anyway...Thanks for all the support guy's it lets me know you all have got my back and I really appreciate it.

Dan: I don't support you at all.

LF: Then why are you still here?

Dan:...

LF: **HAH!** **I WIN!**


	3. Panicking Cyclopes Give The Orders

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Panicking Cyclopes Give The Orders  
**

Deep within the Ghost Zone's swirling green and black abyss, lay a massive citadel, surrounded by floating green gears. The gears glowed an eerie green light as they floated aimlessly to and fro, never straying too far from the tower. The clock tower was dark teal in color. It was supported by two giant gears. Two towers branched off from the original tower, one of which had a pale green skull with a scythe on top. A long staircase zigzagged up the main tower, where a long green pendulum in the shape of a swirl was moving left and right, marking each second with a ticking sound. Several more gears sprouted out of the sides to support the side towers. The main tower was in the shape of a grandfather clock, but had a winged skull with a scythe sticking out on either side of the clock's face. Large medieval double doors stood at the foot of the clock tower, waiting to be opened. Few knew about it and even fewer could find it. The tower moved from place to place, almost as if it was trying to evade the ghosts that resided in the Ghost Zone.

The clock tower was the lair of the Master of Time, Clockwork. The age-old spirit was rumored to know everything, past, present, and future, as well as control time itself. Clockwork was in the viewing room of the tower, staring at the viewer in front of him. The Master of Time was wearing a lavender tunic with a silver pocket-watch hanging from a black belt. Greyish purple gloves, covered with multiple watches, went almost to his elbows. Instead of legs, a ghostly tail moved continuously keeping him in the air. A violet cloak was held together by a black gear. The hood was up, covering everything but his face. In Clockwork's hand was his time staff. The grey staff had a stopwatch with a 'C' around it, positioned in the middle of a V-shape that made the top of the staff look like a diamond. On the shape was a violet 'W'. The handle was long and thin and flared out a little at the bottom and had a small purple ball at the end. Embedded in his chest was a working clock protected by a faux glass case. The pendulum was swinging; ticking away like a heart would in a human. The viewing room had gears sticking out from the floor and gears in the walls. They moved slowly, turning the gears in the rest of the citadel, keeping it functional. In the front of the room were numerous viewers, round mirrors that served as portals to different time periods or time lines. At the time, they were blank. However, Clockwork continued to stare at them, as he waited, enjoying the peace. The room was silent, save for the constant ticking of the countless clocks in the tower and the time master's own internal clock.

_I should be getting visitors any second now. _Clockwork groaned as he waited for the Observants to barge through the front door. They would have a fit over some small detail, and most likely ask him to kill someone again instead of finding a different way. A few moments passed before the Time Keeper could feel the presence of the Observants outside the door. _5...4...3...2...1..._

WHAM!

The door was thrown back by the specters outside, the hinges creaking and protesting against the unnecessary amount of force. The Observants rushed inside, not bothering to ask if they could come in. The Observants were green dome headed spirits that had a single eyeball in the middle of their face, if it could be called a face; after all, they only had an eye, nothing else. The Observants all looked alike and wore the same white, gold-trimmed robes, and black cloaks lined with red. The two Observants rushed towards Clockwork, flailing their arms and screaming. _Those annoying one-eyed pests, why must they be so dramatic?_

"This is HORRIBLE!"

"This is DISASTROUS!"

"This is..."

"This is..."

"SO MUCH WORSE THAN BEFORE!" screamed both at the same time as they stared wide-eyed at Clockwork, waiting for a response.

_How they manage to talk, is still a mystery to me. It's not telekinesis though; otherwise, I would have much bigger migraines, _thought Clockwork as he turned around calmly. "Really? Worse than horrible and disastrous?" inquired Clockwork, sarcasm practically dripping off his words.

"MUCH!" yelled the Observants in usion once more. The Observants seemed completely oblivious to the Time Master's tone and continued to panic. They were obviously terrified of something, but then again, the smallest paradox made them rush to Clockwork for help.

"What could you two possibly be blubbering about?" asked Clockwork trying not to yell at his 'superiors'. He could feel a major headache coming on.

"We have an emergency!"

"We're doomed!"

"Yes. Yes. I know! But _what _is the problem?" snapped the irritated Time Master

"She's gone!" said an Observant.

"Gone!" repeated the other one.

"Who is? You're not making any sense."

"_She _is loose!"

"It's _Her_!"

"What? She got out?" Clockwork was attempting to keep his stoic facade and not laugh directly in the Observants' faces. "I thought the Council said it was impossible to escape."

"It's not funny!" said the two infuriated Observants.

"I didn't say anything." Clockwork tried to keep up the act, wanting to hear what happened.

"The ghost child, Daniel Fenton let her out! You should have eliminated that boy when you had the chance!"

"He let her out!"

"When did this happen, exactly?" completely unconvinced Daniel could have done such a thing. _Not on purpose anyway._

"When he defeated Pariah of course. He created-"

"A disturbance in the form concentrated energy sent through the Ghost Zone. Are you saying the energy got past your doorway and was enough energy to assist her in breaking the prison? The only way that could happen is if you failed to reinforce the spell keeping her inside" finished Clockwork, matter-of-factly.

"Well... um... you see..." stammered the first Observant.

"We... hadn't... actually done that..." finished its companion nervously.

"Anyway, you understand what must be done," said the first Observant.

"You do know, right?" asked the second Observant.

_They're making me fix their own mistakes. Typical Observants. _"What I want to know is why you won't let her go. She deserves to be free, not cooped up in a prison cell." snapped Clockwork, getting annoyed at the sound of their voices.

"She is too unpredictable. She can't control herself" said the first.

"She can learn."

"Not even _you_ know what she will do" said the second.

"I know that she hasn't done anything to deserve imprisonment." Clockwork sighed. It was pointless to argue with them. They had already made up their minds. If he didn't agree, they would just try to find someone else to do it for them. It was unfair, but it was the best solution. "Fine. What is it you're here for?"

"As you know, we-"

"Can't interfere. So what?" The Master of Time narrowed his eyes. I_ don't need to know everything, to know that this is not going to end well._ Clockwork eyed the dented thermos in the back of the room. It had a green logo with an 'F' on it, marking it as an invention of the Fentons. The soup can shook a little, as the creature inside made another attempt to escape. _I wonder if they remember what happened the last time they wanted me to interfere. _The Time Keeper floated over to the shaking Fenton Thermos and picked it up. He quickly rewound time around the thermos to repair the damage. A muffled roar could be heard coming from inside the soup can. Clockwork smirked at the sound of the enraged ghost inside.

"Let me out already!" yelled a disembodied voice.

"Why do you still keep him here? Why not destroy him? He is too dangerous!" said the first Observant, glaring at the thermos.

"Destroy him!" repeated his companion.

"I assure you, he is under control. Dan won't be getting out anytime soon" replied the Master of Time, as he placed the thermos back on the table. Almost immediately a loud bang resonated throughout the room. A large dent appeared in the thermos. _Why do I even bother?_ Clockwork almost face-palmed at the sight of the new dent. _Why does he keep trying? This is getting repetitive. It's like he's doing this to annoy me on purpo-_

"Ahem" coughed one of the Observants, breaking Clockwork's train of thought. The Time Keeper turned around, facing his employers once more. "The Council has met and decided that you must locate and capture her."

Clockwork glowered at the two Observants. "You two do realize that I don't know where she is, right?"

"That would be correct" answered the first Observant.

"Correct" echoed the second.

"Then you know it could be months before I find a trace of her."

"Well then, you better get started."

"Get started."

"You already said that" said Clockwork as he winded the stopwatch on his staff. "Well then. I believe I have some work to do, and I'm sure you two have some observations to make. Elsewhere."

"Humph!" The Observants turned around and made a portal to the Observatory before floating through it in a huff, to report back to the Council.

_Finally. Some quiet._ Clockwork floated back to his viewers. He waved his staff and different areas popped up on the many screens. The Time Keeper glanced at each of the screens momentarily before moving on to a different one.

_A boy at home, studying for a test._

_A girl at a funeral, crying._

_A man doing his taxes._

_The Box Ghost rummaging through boxes_

_A prisoner running through a forest._

_Friends playing a game of cards._

_Skulker hunting a giant rabbit._

_A doctor examining charts._

_Ghost hunters testing weapons._

And on and on. Dozens of moments from Earth. After carefully examining each scene, Clockwork changed them again, and again, and again. None of the viewers showed who he was looking for.

_No... No... No... None of these... _"Where are you?" he wondered out loud. "I can't sense you, so you're either disguised as a human or you're power is being inhibited... or both.

"Who the heck were you and the eyeballs talking about, old man?" interrupted a voice. Clockwork turned around, almost surprised, at the sound. He had forgotten that it was possible to hear things from the inside of the thermos.

"Hush, Dan. I'm trying to think."

"Think about what? Your retirement?" sneered Dan.

Clockwork floated over to the thermos and picked it up.

"Don't you dare!" he threatened, "I will rip you to shreds when I get ou-"

Clockwork shook the soup can. Hard. Inside of the Fenton Thermos, a certain evil future started getting motion sickness. It was a living nightmare inside. He was thrown up and down, side to side, in every direction. There was no escaping it as the torment continued for a couple more seconds. Dan felt sick. His blue face turned slightly green as he tried to find his happy place.

_Think happy thoughts. Happy thoughts, like... killing my weakling younger self. Yeah that would be nice... hahaha... _After a few moments of violent shaking, Clockwork put the thermos back down on the table. Moaning could be heard coming from the thermos as Dan tried to shake off the dizziness.

"Now, do be quiet." The Time Keeper returned to his viewers, and casually glanced at each of them, knowing the chances were slim that one of them would have what he wanted to see. _The Observants' prison broke after Daniel defeated Pariah Dark. The Council most likely has the remains of the orb. The shards could be still connected to her ectosignature, most likely draining her energy, keeping her at half power or less... Therefore she would probably try to hide... In the Mortal World, to avoid recapture, probably... But where? _"Where are you little one? He mumbled absent minded as his eyes continued to scan the screens.

* * *

LF: And... CUT! I'm finally done with this chapter! *Gives self pat on the back* Thanks to all you wonderful viewers out there that actually waited this long for the update. My life had been a bit hectic lately and I just haven't had the time to write. You know how it is near the end of the school year, teachers trying to cram every little review guide, test, and quiz in before the final exams, and then worrying too much about the actual exams. This chapter was originally going to be the third chapter (or fourth if you count the prologue). But then, I thought I about it some more and wrote this one instead. I apologize that it is a bit shorter than my usual chapters (by 1,000 or so words). I just couldn't find a way to make it any longer. I hope I have done a good job in portraying the Observants, Clockwork, and every character so far in the story. I can only hope to live up to your expectations. You will see the next chapter soon, so don't worry about waiting another 2 or 3 weeks. I actually have the next chapter written out and revised already so now you all won't have to wait forever for it. But obviously I just happen to be evil enough that I don't put it out yet. Mwahahaha!

Dan: I have trained you well.

LF: Thanks! I've been practicing. ^_^ Anyway, enough of my pointless rambling, I hope you have enjoyed the story (or will enjoy, if you decided to skip to the bottom for some reason) and please review it! Send me your thoughts and comments, your hate mail and flames (I keep a fire extinguisher with me so don't worry about me burning to death). Send me alerts about grammar mistakes and spelling errors. Send me ideas that I could include or just a quick hello! Thank you for your time and enjoy your day, night, evening, afternoon, morning, early morning, etcetera!


	4. First Impressions Can Be Wrong

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 3: First Impressions Can Be Wrong**

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

The shrill sound of the school Bell signified the end of the fourth period and the beginning of lunch. People left their classrooms, eager to get to the cafeteria to hang out with their friends and talk about their day. However, Danny chose to stay behind, as he always does, to take a shower since no one would be hogging the showers in the boys' locker room. He turned on the water and let the cool liquid fall on his head, instantly relieving him of the stress from the school day. After washing the sweat from P.E. out of his hair, Danny got out, turned off the stream of water, and dried himself with a towel. He hurriedly threw on his clothes and ran over to his locker to grab his bag. Danny's black hung limply on his head, weighed down by the water. It obscured his vision, preventing him from seeing the puddle of water on the floor. Danny was surprised when he felt his foot glide across the wet floor, and the sudden feeling of gravity working against him. Danny landed on his back, hard. He groaned as he got back to his feet, pain shooting up his spine.

"Guess this is what I get for showering before lunch and making Tucker and Sam wait" he mumbled to no one in particular. Grabbing his backpack from the pastel green locker, Danny ran through the doors of the boys locker room to the cafeteria, only to crash into a bright red and white leather jacket. "Ow." said Danny as he backed away, rubbing his face, "What hit me?"

"Nothing yet, Fenturd" replied a familiar voice. Danny instantly recognized the voice. He knew only one person who called him 'Fenturd' and that was Dash. Danny slowly opened his eyes and wasn't surprised to see the blond jock glaring at was cracking his knuckles, preparing to wail on him again.

"Can't we do this some other time Dash?" ask Danny annoyed with having to deal with the bully again.

"No" said Dash as he swung his fist. Danny ducked and ran away. He could have beat up Dash with his ghost powers, but he would be exposing his secret in the process, so instead, Danny ran like all the other times he had accidentally messed with Dash.

Sam and Tucker were waiting patiently for Danny to show up, or as patiently as they could wait as they had been standing there for ten minutes. They had already gotten their food, well, Tucker had gotten his food. Sam had brought her food, a salad and water bottle, to school because she would never agree to eat the 'garbage' that is school lunches, because the cafeteria sold mainly meat products. Tucker had a giant foot tall meat sandwich composed mainly of meat.

"Where IS he?" asked Sam, tapping her foot in annoyance.

"You know Danny, always taking a shower when everyone is eating" replied Tucker, glancing at his sandwich, salivating at the smell of meat.

"Well he could at least hurry up," she said impatiently, "Lunch is gonna be over soon."

"Actually it started about ten minutes ago," said Tucker "let's just wait a few more minutes." The two friends sat down at their table and waited for their friend to show up while they ate. The table was just like any other table in the cafeteria. It was a pale lime green and had two sides to sit on. Sam sat on one side and Tucker sat on the other. They glanced around the room, hoping to see their friend. The lunch room was composed of light blue bricks and had a few bulletin boards on the walls. The line in front of the serving area was slowly but surely getting shorter, however, Danny was nowhere to be found. A few moments later Danny arrived, out of breath.

"Hey...guys" he said, gasping for breath. "Thanks...for waiting...for me."

"You okay Danny?" asked a concerned Sam.

"Yeah, you look like you got chased by Skulker again" said Tucker, holding back a laugh. Sam punched him in the arm. "OW!"

"Not helping, Tucker" said Sam.

"I'm fine guys., I just crashed into Dash on my way here" said Danny as he sat down on the seat.

"Ouch dude. That must've been rough." said Tucker, wincing as he imagined how mad the football player must have been.

"Luckily, I got away when Lancer showed up threatening to give us both detention." said Danny, taking out his regular sized sandwich and taking a big bite out of it.

"You know Dash is gonna kill you when he sees you later, right?" asked Tucker as he chomped on the meat monstrosity. "OW!" he yelled after being punched a second time.

"Still no helping Tucker," said Sam.

"I think my arm is starting to bruise" said Tucker outing at the pain as it went away. Sam and Danny burst out laughing at Tucker's expense. Soon the laughter died down and was replaced by the sound of teenagers talking, also known as arguing.

"Why can't you stand the smell of meat?! You're not eating it so why would you care about the smell?!" complained Tucker.

"It smells like dead animals. Do you know how many cows were killed for that one sandwich!" replied Sam in disgust.

"First of all it's not beef, it's ham. And second of all, one because it's just one sandwich."

"One really BIG sandwich! An innocent animal died so you could have a sandwich for lunch instead of a salad!"

"Innocent plants died for your salad!" retorted Tucker.

"Haha! You walked right into that one Sam!" laughed Danny, almost choking on his own sandwich.

Sam glared at both her friends trying to come up with a good comeback. "Well I have to eat something. It's not like I can photosynthesize!"

"I have to eat something too! And that something just happens to be meat." said Tucker finishing his sandwich

"Well it doesn't _have _to be animals you know."

"You don't have to eat pla-" Tucker was cut off as he saw a certain football star walk through the cafeteria doors. "Hey look! Dash is here."

"Danny hide!" said Sam. Danny quickly ducked under the grey lunch table, hoping the bully wouldn't come looking for him.

_My day's been bad enough without Dash beating me up _thought Danny as he watched Dash look around the lunch room before stomping to the popular kid's table.

"Coast is clear, dude. Looks like Dash gave up looking for you" reassured Tucker.

The trio watched as Dash sat down at the table with all the other cool teenagers; Paulina, Star, Kwan, and a bunch of other cheerleaders and sports stars. The group whispered to each other excitedly, occasionally, laughter could be heard. Dash seemed to be complaining to his friends, but they seemed to just ignore him.

"You think they're planning something?" asked Danny glancing nervously at the other table.

"Dunno. Maybe they're gonna booby trap your locker again" offered Tucker.

"Or maybe they're going to recruit the new girl into their posse" said Sam, pointing to Dash and Paulina, who had gotten up and were walking up to a table in the back of the cafeteria, where Raven sat alone reading a book, oblivious to the world around her. The trio looked on as the two most popular teens in the school approached the newbie. She was so absorbed in her book; Raven didn't even realize the two teenagers were there until Paulina ripped the book out of her hands.

"Hey! That's mine!" exclaimed an agitated Raven.

"Uhhg! _The History of Amity Park_? Why would someone like you be reading something like this?" asked Paulina in disgust. She held the book with her middle finger and her thumb, acting as if it was a dirty piece of trash.

"What do you mean someone like me?" asked Raven, confused by what was happening.

"You obviously belong in our group" replied Paulina with a smirk.

"And what group would that be?"

"Why, the A-listers of course! You must not know who you're talking to. I'm Paulina Sanchez, the most _perfect_ girl in the whole school. And this is Dash Baxter, the quarterback of the football team."

"I know who you two are. The _entire_ school talks about you two. Your fan club is _really_ loud" said Raven, rolling her eyes.

"You _do _know who we are!" squealed Paulina. "Anyway," she continued, with a flick of her wavy hair, "you have been chosen to be the newest member of our group. Think about it, you could rule this school with us!"

"And do the new kid joins the dark side with the shallow witch..." said Sam through gritted teeth. She stared daggers at the Hispanic girl.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Paulina. I'm perfectly fine being here by myself. Now, can I have my book back?" asked Raven, grabbing the novel from the surprised cheerleader's hands and sitting back down. Paulina gasped. Never before had she been treated this way. Paulina felt that she was about to faint.

_NO ONE DOES THIS TO PAULINA SANCHEZ! _Paulina thought angrily. "**_YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE_ -**" Paulina was interrupted when Dash stepped in.

"Come on new kid, why not sit at the cool table, I can even show you around later" said the football player, taking the book and throwing it behind him. Dash leaned forward one arm on the wall, trying to use his charm to win her over.

"I'm fine sitting here, Dash, and I said _NO!_" said Raven angrily, before shoving the jock away from her. Raven then walked past the two stunned individuals to pick up her book. She brushed the cover to remove any dirt and dust, and proceeded to walk away. To Raven's surprise, Paulina and Dash were waiting for her, and they were mad.

Paulina was staring at Raven, her eyes were red and seemed to be on fire and her face was flushed from embarrassment. Dash was just as mad, his blue eyes seemed to be trying to vaporize Raven with the intensity of the glare. Veins were popping out on his neck.

"**_YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK AWAY FROM_** **_US?!_**" demanded a furious Dash.

"Yep!" replied Raven, popping the 'p' at the end, and being overly cheerful.

Far away, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were still watching the scene unfold. Their jaws dropped when they saw Raven deny Paulina's offer. Most kids would do anything to get onto the A-list, and this new girl just threw that opportunity out the window.

"Whoa. She just stood up to Dash" said Tucker awestruck.

"Anyone that can make Paulina that mad is okay in my book!" said Sam as she took a mental image of her enemy's expression.

"You guys think she's gonna need some help?" asked Danny. Tucker and Sam nodded in agreement and then watched as Danny ran up to stop the girl before she did anything stupid. All the while, the entire cafeteria had gotten quiet. People watched in amazement as the two most popular teens at the school were being stood up to by the new student.

"Now can you please leave me alone?" asked Raven innocently.

"You're gonna pay for that, brat!" yelled Dash.

"Pay for what, you egotistical jerk?" snapped Raven.

"_ARRG!_" Dash raised his arm, hand clenched tightly in a fist. He put all his energy in the punch and swung. Raven flinched, expecting Dash's fist to collide with her face.

It never did.

Danny had reached Raven in time and pulled her away from Dash. The blond had put too much energy into the attack, causing him to lose his balance when he missed. Dash stumbled a few feet before regaining control over his feet. He looked at his hand in confusion before realizing what had happened. Dash looked up and saw Danny and Raven sprinting away.

"What are you waiting for?! Go get them!" screeched Paulina.

_This is the second time Fenton's got in my way._ Dash growled before giving chase after the fleeing teenagers. After months of practice in football, Dash barreled past everyone that was in his way. He was like a steam-engine. Never stopping for anything, moving forward with frightening speed. Dash shoved person after person aside, fueled by his rage. "**FENTON! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN BEAT YOU TO A PULP!**"

"No thanks," replied Danny as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. The two dark haired teens ran through the front door of the school and turned before running to the back of the school. _Maybe I should use my ghost powers... but there's gonna be a witness. Oh man! What have I gotten myself into?!_

"Follow me!" yelled Raven. Danny followed and they turned another corner. They could hear the heavy breathing of Dash as he drew closer and closer. Raven looked around and spotted a hose and a few gardening tools left over from when the gardener was tending to the lawn.

"What are you _doing_?!" whispered Danny as he saw Raven pick up the hose and a rake

"Let's just say Dash needs to _cool off_" she replied. Raven stepped back a couple of feet, hiding behind the wall. She closed her eyes and focused on the thundering footsteps, mere yards away. _3...2...1...now!_

Just as Dash rounded the corner, Raven sprung out and turned on the hose. Water sprayed out from the nozzle drenching Dash in the cold water, surprising Dash. Raven then quickly placed the rake in front of the quarterback's feet, angling it so the stick was facing away from him and the teeth were facing the grey sky. She suddenly turned the water off. Dash took a step forward so he could throttle the brat. His foot landed on the rake, forcing it to stand up straight and causing the handle to fly up. The hard piece of wood hit Dash in the face, knocking him onto the ground, like in a stereotypical cartoon.

_Wow! That rake thing really works! _Thought Raven as she saw the larger teen tumble to the ground in a heap. The muffled sounds of footsteps were close behind Dash, as the popular kids raced forward to see what had happened.

Danny was shocked. Dash had been knocked out by a new kid.

_She just made Dash look bad... Maybe she's not so bad after all... What was her name again?_

"And that would be our cue... Um... you alright there, dude?" asked Raven waving her hands in front of Danny's blank face. He was staring at the unconscious Dash.

"Snap out of it!" yelled Raven in the teen's ear, startling him out of his self-induced coma.

"Right. Better get away while we have the chance" said Danny still a bit confused as to what happened. The two teens sneaked away from the scene as a crowd started gathering around Dash. Heavy breathing could be heard as Raven turned around to see an exhausted Tucker and Sam run up them. Tucker was sweating and mumbling something about chasing birds. Sam looked like she was about to say something, her pointer finger raised in the air to tell the group to wait, however, she was too tired of running after the two to say what was on her mind. Instead, the Goth pointed to a faraway tree, indicating that they would talk over there. Once they reached the giant oak Tucker collapsed on the soft green-grey grass, Sam leaned on the faded trunk, and Danny and Raven sat down. After a few quiet moments, Raven decided to break the awkward silence in the air.

"Anyway... thanks for pulling me out of Dash's way..." Raven paused as she raked her brain trying to come up with the boy's name. "Um... sorry, I never got your name or either of yours'." She sighed in defeat, having failed to come up with a name to match the face. _But then again, I've only been here for a few hours... How did I even end up coming here?_

"I'm Danny Fenton, and 's no problem. Dash was being a jerk anyway" said Danny interrupting Raven's thinking.

"Danny. That's short for Daniel, right?" She was answered with a small nod. Raven looked curiously at the two other teens around her.

"And who are you two?"

"I'm Samantha Manson. Call me Sam." said Sam, sounding disgusted by her actual name.

_Note to self: Don't call Sam, Samantha._

"And, I'm Tucker Foley. Foley with an 'F' as in far too fine" quipped Tucker, trying to smile a winning smile.

"You're a _real_ charmer, Tuck" said Raven sarcastically, while rolling her eyes. The group burst into laughs at that remark. "My name's Raven Mors. Nice to meet all you" said Raven as the laughter died down.

"So, Danny what happened to Dash?" asked Sam curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure" replied Danny with a shrug

"What do you mean? You were there!" exclaimed Tucker.

"I know. I just can't believe what happened."

"Okay then, what happened?" asked Sam once more.

"Dash chased us to the back of the school. I surprised Dash with a hose to his face, and then made him knock himself out by having him step on a rake. Nothing too unbelievable there if you ask me" said Raven as she played with the grass.

"Whoa" murmured the Goth and techno-geek.

"What?"

"You stood up to Dash _AND_ made an idiot out of him. This is too good to be true!" exclaimed Tucker, who was struggling to hold back the laughs.

"I can't believe that rake thing works" mumbled Danny.

"Not bad Raven," said Sam with a grin, "You're not so bad after all."

"Thanks... I guess?" replied Raven, confused what exactly Sam had meant by that comment. "So...Why did you help me, Danny?"

"It's what friends do, and I suppose we're all friends now, right?"

"Definitely" she said with a small laugh. _I can't believe they actually think of me as a friend... _Soon the high school students were laughing and talking with one another as if they had always been friends.

"So how do you like Amity Park so far, Raven?" asked Tucker.

"It's pretty great here. Really peaceful and whatnot. The weather's been fantastic!"

_It's not always this peaceful, not when the ghosts are attacking people in the middle of the night, _thought Danny with a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" asked Raven, looking at Danny with him quizzically.

"Nothing. I was just thinking-"

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

"Looks like lunch is over" said Tucker looking at the time on his PDA. The group gathered their belongings before saying their goodbyes.

"See you guys later!"

"Bye"

"Later.

"See ya!"

* * *

LF: And that's a wrap for that chapter! Hope you liked it! I've been busy these few weeks so I haven't been able to update this until now. Thanks for all your support people!

Dan: And to think I thought you were dead. I knew it was too good to be true.

LF: Why must you torture me? Oh yeah! I realized why you're here Dan!

Dan: And why would that be?

LF: You're my inspiration! My fountain of creativity! My muse!

Dan: ... What...

LF: Every writer has a muse. Ya know, the thing that gets them to write, inspires them, helps them through writer's block, the works. Anyway, you're my muse because the first fanfic I read from this fandom was about you and that fanfic inspired me to try writing. You're life story is my inspiration Dan!

Dan: I don't even...

LF: Anyway... Back to my closing statement... I have realized that there are fewer reviews than views... I hope you all can at least write a small comment to me telling me about what you thought. It's really helpful when someone tells me the grammatical mistakes or gives me advice on word choice. I'm still an aspiring writer and I need all the reviews I can get. My eye can only catch so many mistakes. I need all your help to make this story as great as possible (Or at least decent enough that I can finish it and feel satisfied with it). It sorta irks me to see it has so many more views than reviews. To all those Grammar Nazis out there, please help me find my mistakes. I wasn't to give a BIG thank you to all those that have stuck with me and waited for this chapter. I can only hope you will like it. To all my lovely readers, please tell me what you want to see in the future chapter. I will take each suggestion into consideration. And now I would like to give a **_BIG THANKS_** to daotabaker72 for sticking with me.

Dan: Stop with the sap-fest and get back to work!

LF: Okay! Okay! No need to yell.


	5. Attack Of The Giant Octopus

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Attack Of The Giant Octopus**

Rain bombarded the windows of Casper High. Heavy grey clouds blotted out the brilliant yellow sun. The water droplets pounded the windows relentlessly, as if they were trying to shatter the thick glass. Brilliant sparks of light jumped from cloud to cloud, occasionally zigzagging across the sky, towards the drenched ground below, hitting some poor defenseless tree or lightning rod. Deafening roars of thunder followed closely after the lightning, constantly reminding everyone of the storm's presence. The unforgiving weather dampened everyone's moods The students in 8th period Latin were half asleep, except for a certain black-haired girl sitting in the back of the classroom. Raven was looking down at her notebook, doodling on the margin. The teacher, Mr. Swartz, a tall, lanky, and balding man, was droning on and on, about the past tense and the correct conjugations. It had been a week since Raven's arrival. The buzz about the new girl had almost come to a complete halt. If not for the efforts of the most popular kids in school to humiliate her, the teenage population would have forgotten she was there at all. Raven didn't try to stand out, nor did she want to. The black-haired girl stayed in the back of her classrooms, making her practically invisible to her classmates.

_And that's just the way I like it. No one to talk to me. No one to interrupt my thoughts. No one to question anything I do. _She thought as she looked up from her paper, just as Mr. Swartz turned around. Raven quietly chided herself for not paying attention._ I could have missed something important._ She forced herself to stare straight ahead as the teacher rambled on about the importance of pronouns. Absent mindedly, Raven continued drawing on her journal. The white lined sheet of paper was covered with neat notes on tenses and clauses; however, the margin was a different story. The inch wide space was littered with small meaningless doodles; a spider here, a feather there, nothing unusual for a bored person to draw while waiting for the teacher to finish talking, except for a small sketch of an octopus in the upper left hand corner. It wasn't just any doodle. It seemed lifelike, as if one could reach out and touch it. The marine animal seemed angry and was lashing out a ragged tentacle at something. Two people seemed to be trapped in its arms, struggling against the monster's iron grip. Its beady little eyes were focused on something that had yet to be drawn. The strokes were quick and wispy, making the creature seem like it was not really there, almost as if it was a ghost. _What in the world...?_

* * *

Far away in the Ghost Zone, Clockwork frowned at the viewers that lay before him. It had been a week and he hadn't found anything; well, a week in the human world at least. There in his tower, time went in all directions. For him, it went backwards, forwards, up, down, left, right, diagonally, in circles, etc. It could easily have been a few minutes for him or a few centuries. All he wanted was a break from searching. He had been looking through the time stream for a _really _long time, and it was getting tiresome.

_All I need is a clue. A small one. Anything that could give me an idea of where to search._ And then he felt it. A small ripple in the time stream. The time stream is like a piece of fabric. A really complex, constantly moving, always changing piece of fabric, but still like a piece of fabric, and someone had just poked a hole through it. _A miniscule hole though. Someone is looking into the future, but not consciously. Perhaps this is the clue I've needed._ Clockwork began tracing the point back to its source, when all of a sudden, the signal disappeared. "NO!" he shouted, ignoring the fact that Dan was probably going to annoy him later at his outburst. Clockwork sighed. _At least I could trace it to somewhere in Amity Park. Now all I have to do is find it again. Her powers are resurfacing, meaning there will probably be another disturbance later. I have to keep looking._

"No what, you old fool? What's going on out there?!"

"Don't make me shake the thermos again, Dan." The ghost in question immediately fell silent at the threat.

* * *

_Brrrrrrring!_

The shrill bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Raven quickly put her journal away, giving no second thought to its content. She gathered her belongings before squeezing through the doorway crowded with students trying to leave the room. Raven walked down the hallway. Her green eyes scanned the area, looking for Dash and Paulina. The two bullies were most likely going to try to embarrass her and then fail, again.

_They've had a grudge ever since I made them look like idiots. Seriously, can't they let it go? This is ridiculous! It's been a week. _Raven rounded a corner and headed for the double doors that lead to the outside world. The doors were wide open; a steady stream of people was passing through, umbrellas in hand. Surprisingly, no one got their eyes poked out as the students pushed and shoved past each other to leave the building. When she got outside, Raven was immediately met with a face full of water. The rain kept coming down with no mercy. _Oh right. It's raining. _She pulled out a grey umbrella from her backpack and opened it, grateful for the lack of rain pouring onto her head. _Can't risk my homework getting wet. _Raven noticed Danny, Tucker and Sam waiting near the lamppost by the sidewalk. They were all taking shelter under a giant black umbrella; Danny and Tucker had obviously not been prepared for the storm.  
Raven decided to sneak up on them, to practice her sneaking abilities of course. The three were talking with each other, so none of them noticed the girl with a grey umbrella creep up behind them.

"I don't understand why you're both under _my_ umbrella with me" muttered Sam.

"Duh. We didn't bring our own" quipped Danny.

"Besides, my PDA didn't even say anything about there being a storm today" said Tucker fiddling with his PDA as he spoke.

"BOO!" shouted Raven.

"AHH!" The techno geek jumped up in fright. Tucker dropped his PDA, the piece of metal fell to the soft grass below with a small thud.

"Haha. That was priceless" said Raven laughing her head off.

"It's not funny!" defended Tucker, quickly picking up her digital assistant and checking for blemishes. "She could have gotten scratched or even worse, a cracked screen!"

"You're right Tucker. You only have like what? 20 of them?" retorted Sam as she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry. I didn't think you would be playing on your PDA _during_ a thunderstorm" apologized Raven, trying her best to not to keep laughing.

"Speaking of thunderstorms, I think we should get going. We can't stay out in the rain forever. Come on you three."

"What? Where are we going?" asked Danny.

"Trinity of Doom 2 is premiering today, and you three promised to watch it with me, rain or shine" said Sam, as if it was obvious.

"But it's pouring" complained Raven.

"And there's thunder and lightning" added Tucker.

"And I already got our tickets" snapped Sam, waving four pieces of paper in the air. "Besides. You three promised and there's no backing out of it now."

"Alright. We'll go!" replied Danny, giving in to the Goth's demands.

"Come on. I want to get to the theater before everyone else takes the good seats." Sam raced off in the direction of the theater, taking her umbrella with her, leaving the other three behind.

"Wait up!" shouted Raven before running to catch up with her friend, leaving Tucker and Danny standing in the rain. The two guys stared as the only two people with umbrellas ran off. The teens groaned as they realized they were going to have to run in the rain.

"Let's get out of here before we get pneumonia or something" said Tucker shivering.

"Agreed" answered Danny.

"GUYS! WAIT FOR US!" they yelled, running as fast as they could.

After a couple minutes of sprinting, the two teens reached the theater, and scrambled inside, to get out of the rain. Inside, they noticed Sam and Raven, leaning against the back wall, waiting for them.

"Thanks for waiting for us." said Danny sarcastically while Tucker gasped for breath next to him.

"No problem!" replied Raven cheerfully, utterly oblivious to his tone.

"Tucker, you need to get in shape. Do I really need to get you to chase a bird again?" asked Sam with a smirk on her face. Tucker looked like he was about to faint.

"I don't get it" muttered Raven. "What does a bird have to do with-"

"Ahhhh! I think the water got in my PDA!" screamed Tucker, earning a few glares from the theater employees and their customers. "Don't worry baby, daddy's got you." Tucker ran to the bathroom, carrying his PDA in his hands like it was his child.

"Danny you might want to follow him. You sorta need to dry off too." said Sam, pointing at his soaking wet head and clothes.

"Well then, it's a good thing we have an hour before the movie starts" said Raven, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Are you kidding me?" exclaimed Danny. "You dragged us here 60 minutes early?! Why did we run to get here then?! What am I supposed to do for an hour?"

"Stop complaining Danny. It won't take you that long to get dry. Besides, I wanted us to get good seats." said Sam dismissively before Danny set off for the bathroom. Once inside, he looked around to make sure no one was there, except for Tucker, and turned intangible, his eyes briefly glowing green. The water instantly splashed onto the ground and Danny turned tangible once more, grinning.

_It's nice to be dry again, _he thought.

"Ahem. A little help here." said Tucker, pointing at himself.

"Oh sorry Tuck. Here." Danny touched Tucker's arm and turned both of them intangible. The water fell off of Tucker and out of his PDA. Tucker kissed his PDA when he realized it was dry and fully functional.

"Thanks dude. I owe you one."

"No problem-" Danny was cut off as he saw a thin, blue, wisp of air fly out of his mouth. "Uh-oh."

**"SKREEE!" **

The ground shook violently as screams filled the air.

"That's your cue, Danny."

"On it. Going ghost!" Two ice-blue rings appeared around his waist, and traveled across his body, turning his t-shirt and jeans into a black and white hazmat suit. His hair turned a silvery white as his eyes turned neon green. Danny Phantom then phased through the building to face whatever ghost was outside.

"WAIT! YOU FORGOT THE THERMOS!" yelled Tucker, pulling the soup can from his bag and waving it in the air. Tucker's screams fell on deaf ears. Danny had already left. Tucker rushed out of the bathroom where people were screaming and yelling. The people that had been watching movies ran outside, panicking. Tucker got caught in the stream of people and was forced outside. It was still raining but not as hard as it had been before. Soon enough, Sam and Raven were also pushed out through the doors.

"Ow! Hey! Quit shoving!" complained Tucker as people ran past him. _Great I'm wet again._

"What's going on here?" asked Sam.

"Where's Danny?" asked Raven, ignoring the fact that her hair was being plastered to her head by the rain. "Shouldn't he be with you, Tuck-"

**"SKREEEIII" **

The ground shook again as a giant green tentacle rose from behind the theater, before smashing into the roof. The wood and concrete caved in, leaving a gaping hole in the building. In a matter or moments seven more tentacles appeared and grabbed several cars, throwing them in random directions. A large bulbous head rose up from the ground. Its beady eyes glowed red amidst the glowing, pale-green skin. The giant green octopus seemed angry. It flailed its tentacles, knocking down street lamps and smashing cars. Lighting flashed in the background, making it seem even more intimidating. It looked like a giant version of an ectopus, except with eight tentacles, not four, and had a beak instead of a mouth with teeth.

"I guess we're not gonna be watching Trinity of Doom today..." said Tucker slowly.

"Ya think?" snapped Sam.

_Why does that look so familiar? _thought Raven as she stared at the towering monster. The three teens backed away slowly from the ghost, watching as it continued its rampage. Suddenly, a black and white streak zipped past the group, and made impact with the ghost, between the eyes. The ghost reeled back from the force of the attack; a high pitched screech came from its black beak. The giant octopus gave a menacing glare at the teenager floating in front of it.

"Wow. I don't know where you got your looks, but I hope you kept the receipt" said Danny, meeting the glare, with a smirk. His words only seemed to make the monster angrier. The marine animal grabbed a nearby car in one of its nearby tentacles, and threw it at the ghost boy. The driver inside the car, screamed in absolute terror. Danny ducked the incoming vehicle, the metal just barely missing his head, and then flew under it, catching the car before it could hit a skyscraper. When Danny set the car down, the driver opened the door and ran away, screaming. "You're welcome" said Danny sarcastically. He turned back to face the ghost, only to be thrown backwards by a tentacle to the face. The ghost boy flew several yards back, hitting a nearby building, and leaving an indentation in the wall.

"Danny!" exclaimed Sam and Tucker worriedly, forgetting all about the rain that kept falling on their heads.

"That's Danny?" asked Raven. Sam and Tucker looked at each other briefly.

"No... Of course not!" said Sam nervously. "That's Danny Phantom."

"Uh... Yeah. Danny's probably got lost in the crowd." said Tucker. Raven just stared her two friends, trying to figure out if they were lying or not.

Danny pulled himself off of the wall. His bones were aching and he was probably going to have a few bruises next morning. Danny flew into the air once more and charged up an ecto-blast.

"Hey seaweed-for-brains! Hasn't your mother told you to keep your tentacles to yourself?" The ghost looked up at him in confusion before Danny shot the ball of energy at it. He kept firing at the octopus, hoping to weaken it. Each one collided with the larger ghost creating a thick wall of smoke. The Octopus lashed out a tentacle, blowing the smoke away. The monster was practically unscathed. Danny tried to fire another beam, this time aimed at the eye, when the Octopus sprayed ectoplasm on him. The sticky green fluid pinned him to the ground, holding him in place. "Eww. What is this stuff?" Danny struggled against the ectoplasm, trying to get free. He tried to turn intangible, so he could phase through it, but the ectoplasm seemed to be keeping him tangible. The octopus dragged itself closer to him, arms reaching out to grab him. Danny opened his mouth and let out a Ghostly Wail. The sound waves were sent in all directions, destroying nearby window. The people that had stuck around covered their ears to keep out the dreadful sound. The octopus seemed to be trying to cover _its_ ears; several tentacles were at the sides of its head, as it tried to back away from the source of the sound.

**"SCHREEEIK!" **

When he stopped, Danny felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. It took all his willpower to not transform back into Danny Fenton and expose his secrete. Danny continued to struggle against the ectoplasm so he could get back to kicking the ghost's nonexistent butt.

"I can't give up know" he muttered to himself, as he pulled at the sticky goo. The larger ghost seemed to have recovered from the attack and was advancing on the defenseless Danny.

_Plop._

The marine ghost blinked in surprise as a rock connected with its bulbous head. The relatively harmless chunk of rock rebounded off of the octopus's fleshy head and fell back onto the ground.

"Hey fish-breath! Pick on someone your own size!" The ghost twisted its head, looking for its assailant. Its red eyes landed on a certain angry teenager. Ignoring Danny, the octopus made its way over to Raven, who was slowly backing away, a look of terror growing on her face. "I didn't mean _me!_" she said. "Okay. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea... RUN!" The ghost whipped out three of its green tentacles attempting to catch the three friends before they escaped. The first two tentacles wrapped around Sam and Tucker, pulling them off of the ground, high into the air.

"Hey!" complained Tucker.

"Let us go!" demanded Sam.

The third tentacle missed its mark as Raven jumped out of the way. She looked up and saw the Octopus glaring at her. Sam and Tucker were struggling to get out of the monster's grip while the ghost was lashing out its tentacles in annoyance and anger.

_This seems really famil- _And that's when it hit her. _It's the picture! This is the same exact scene from my journal... But how? It's just a doodle. This is impossi- _Raven was cut off as a thick green tentacle knocked her to the ground. The octopus wrapped one of its tentacles around her, squeezing the air out of her lungs. The ghost brought her to its face.

**"SKREEEE!"**

"Um... I don't speak octopus. Could I get a translator?" said Raven as innocently as possible. The ghost glared menacingly at her for a few more moments, before lowering her to its waiting beak. "I was kidding about the whole 'fish-breath' thing ya know. No need to eat me" Raven said nervously as she got closer and closer to the hungry mouth. "I'm serious! Stop!" Raven closed her eyes, waiting for the octopus to eat her, but it never happened. Something snapped inside Raven, whether it was out of fear or self-preservation, her instincts kicked in, for better or worse. When Raven opened her eyes, instead of green, they burned a dark red that covered even the scleras and the pupils. "I said, _STOP!_" Her voice was the same but sounded more menacing. The ghost's eyes widened at the sudden change. Raven's hands glowed an eerie red, before she fired a powerful ecto-beam into the octopus' gaping mouth. Smoke was pouring out of its beak as the creature screeched in pain. The octopus dropped all three of its captives.

All the while, Danny was struggling to unstick himself from the ectoplasm.

"Arrg! This is hopeless! How am I supposed to get out of this?!" _Think Fenton! Wait! Maybe..._ Danny's eyes glowed a light blue as he took a deep breath and blew out an icy breath at the goo. The ectoplasm froze like a rock, covered with a few inches of ice. Danny tried once more to get out. Large cracks formed on the outside of the frozen ectoplasm. At last Danny broke free from the trap. "I can't believe that worked. Now where is..." Danny turned around to face the monster, and was horrified to see his friends falling 20 feet from the air. "HANG ON GUYS!" Danny took off without a second thought. All he could think about was saving his friends_._ Danny grabbed Sam and Tucker first because they were the closest. "Can one of you guys catch Raven when we fly by?"

"Somehow I think she'll be alright" said Tucker.

"Why's that?" asked Danny as he turned around to catch Raven.

"Because she's a ghost" said Sam flatly.

"What?" Danny came to a complete halt. "How do you know?"

"She just blasted the octopus!" said Sam incredulous. "How did you not see that?"

"Glued to the ground remember?"

"Oh right."

"Also, she just survived that fall" added Tucker. The other two teens looked down at where Tucker was pointing, and sure enough, their friend was on the ground, completely unharmed, staring blank faced at them with her red eyes. The stare was unnerving, as if she was looking at their souls. The three shuddered at her gaze when they landed. A few hundred yards away, they could see the octopus was flailing around in pain, smoke still pouring out of its mouth.

"Um... Raven? You okay there?" asked Sam, wondering if that was her friend's actual name.

"Yeah, you look a bit... How do I put this?... Evil." sad Danny. Suddenly, the octopus shot out another glob of ectoplasm to trap the teenagers. Danny was about to blast the glob of goo, when Raven beat him to it, and put up a glowing shield around the four of them. The green mess just slid off of the glowing red shield, onto the street. Raven just stood looking calmly at the ghost, as if she was asking 'is that all you've got?' Right away, the marine ghost seemed terrified. It even tried to drag itself away, attempting to flee the penetrating gaze of the girl before it.

"Time out." Time just stopped. The people stopped screaming, and the octopus was not moving. Birds in flight stayed where they were, and raindrops ceased to fall. Everything was silent. No one was breathing except for the group of four being protected by a red dome of ectoplasmic energy. Danny, Tucker, and Sam stared in awe at the scene. Their friend had stopped time, but now what? Raven lowered the shield and walked forward towards the ghost. Once she was a few feet away from it, Raven raised her arm, and began draining the ghost of all its energy. The octopus' aura glowed brighter for a few moments, before wisps of white energy separated themselves from the glow, and seemed to be sucked into her hand, like it was a vacuum.

"What's she doing?" whispered Tucker, confused and terrified at the same time.

"It looks like she's feeding off of the life force from the other ghost" replied Sam a little unnerved. The octopus' aura grew fainter and fainter as the ghost became paler and somewhat transparent, like it was fading.

"If this keeps up, she's going to _kill_ it!" said Danny before he flew over to Raven. When he landed Danny let himself transform back into his human form, seeing as his friend was too busy draining the octopus of everything it had to notice. "Raven, STOP!" yelled Danny, shaking his friend. "This isn't you! You're hurting it!" This seemed to knock some sense into Raven. A look of confusion and concern flickered across her face, causing her to hesitate, something that was missed by neither Tucker nor Sam.

"What are we waiting for? This is animal cruelty, even if it is a ghost. We have to get through to her. Come on Tucker!" said Sam before running off.

"What? Is it 'leave-Tucker-behind day' or something?" muttered the techno geek before following his friend. When he arrived, Sam was already talking to Raven. "Come on! Snap out of it! Think this through!"

"It doesn't feel anything, so why should you care?" She asked.

"Why not send it back from where it came from? You know, it could have a family and friends. They might miss it!" said Sam.

"...Family? And...Friends?" Worry had managed to creep into Raven's voice. She blinked a few times, concern clearly evident on her face.

"There has to be another way! Just stop now!" shouted Tucker.

"Another way... Yes..." Raven lowered her arm and the energy stop flow between the two. The octopus just lay there because time was still frozen, preventing it from escaping. The ghost's aura slowly returned to normal, as did its coloring. Tucker quickly pulled out the Fenton Thermos from his backpack and handed it to Danny, who promptly used it to capture the giant ghost. A short-lived vacuuming sound later, and the octopus had disappeared into the tiny soup can. "This isn't right" Said Raven sounding distant. The red in her eyes flickered for a moment before disappearing completely. She looked dazed, as she stumbled backwards. "What just happened?" she asked, holding her head, trying to shake off the migraine. Rain started to fall gently on their heads, and pedestrians cam back to life, looking around confused as to where the ghost had disappeared off to. Birds took off in fear of something that was no longer there, and the seconds proceeded to tick by.

"You tell us" said Danny.

* * *

The Master of Time gazed at his viewers, trying to find the source of the earlier disturbance. So far there had been nothing.

_I know you're there. But where? _Clockwork continued flipping through the screens, taking care to search through each person's history to make sure they weren't ghosts in disguise. It had occurred to him multiple times that she could have left Amity Park already, but Clockwork dismissed it each time because he didn't want to go back to searching random places. Just as he finished searching through three-quarters of the city's population, he felt the time come to an abrupt halt. Someone other than him had stopped time. _Finally. _The Master of Time was looking around, trying to trace it back to the source, when he felt time unfreeze. However, he had already found the source. The girl looked confused and was talking with three other teenagers. Well... Arguing with them anyway. Clockwork waved his time staff, pausing the image. "Gotcha."

* * *

LF: 'Ello dear readers. I just wanted to say thanks for all of your support. This chapter turned out a lot longer than I had originally expected, making it the longest chapter yet. You all are truly amazing, thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I know there are a lot of good stories out there and the fact that you chose to read this one, specifically, is just great. Even if you were just skimming through, I still appreciate it. I felt that this chapter was a bit rushed even though it was this long. What do you think? Personally I felt that the end came a bit quickly and the beginning dragged on, but that could just be me. Okay, so that thing with the rain... it was raining when I started writing this chapter, and I couldn't help it, I was tired and gloomy and all that, so I guess that's why I put that bit in there. Also, Trinity of Doom came from the episode "Memory Blank" from the show in case any of you were wondering. I used an octopus because it was the first thing that popped into my mind. I'm not sure if I made Raven seem a bit too Mary Sue near the end... I needed some excuse to actually start the whole plot line and stuff (Also I couldn't make Clocky search for all eternity, that would be boring). I didn't mean to make her seem better than Danny or too powerful if that's what you're thinking. I'll have an explanation for her powers and everything later (Unless you find my deviantart of course, in which case, you'll find the ref sheet). Also, No, she is not a halfa. Please tell me if I made any mistakes or just give me some creative criticism. Now that it's Summer Vacation, I'll have more time to write so updates won't take so long. But then again, it might take a while anyway for me to review stuff...

Dan: Why not use a grammar checker, doofus?

LF: 'Cause spell check makes mistakes.

Dan: Well you make more mistakes.

LF: No I don't.

Dan: Yes you do.

LF: No I don't. _Anyway_... I hope you all are having a wonder Summer Vacation, well those of you that go to school and have Summer Vacations. For those of you that don't... just have a great rest of the week! Hope you've enjoyed! And as always, it's been a pleasure writing for your enjoyment.


	6. A Favor For An Old Friend

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 5: A Favor For An Old Friend  
**

The ancient clock tower was silent, save for the continuous ticking sound and the slight whirring of the gears as they turned. In the cavernous viewing room, Clockwork darted back and forth, pacing. The Master of Time was deep in thought, trying to come up with a solution to his current predicament. A few feet behind him were multiple viewers. Most had blank screens, while others showed random points in time. One, however, was paused, and showed a particularly important scene. Only a few short moments ago, Clockwork had found where the person he was looking for had been hiding; Raven was in Amity Park. She was perfectly fine. No one was in any danger. There had been no disasters, so far anyway.

_So why don't I just go get her? _He thought, looking back at the frozen screen, before answering his own question._ Because the Observants will want to put her back in that wretched prison, of course. T_he Master of Time sighed as he continued his pacing; changing from an old man, to an adult, to a baby, then back to an old man again. The situation seemed hopeless. The Observants were convinced Raven was a danger to everyone around her. If Clockwork were to tell them where Raven was, they would force him to capture her. Yet, he was supposed to report to them anything he found. _I mustn't tell them. There has to be another way. _Clockwork floated back to the viewers, and unpaused the screen before him, letting the scene play on and as the four friends exchange words.

"What just happened?" asked Raven, holding her head as if she had a headache.

"You tell us" said Danny.

"Yeah. You have some explaining to do" added Tucker, crossing his arms

"I don't follow" replied Raven before looking around in confusion. "What happened to the ghost?"

"You mean you don't remember?" inquired Sam.

"Not really. It's all a blur..."

Clockwork waved his staff, pausing the screen once more.

_Raven seemed genuinely confused as to what had happened._ _She must have locked away her own memories to make the disguise seem as convincing as possible, which would explain why she hasn't tried to make contact yet. _Clockwork waved his time staff. The scene disappeared, and was replaced with another, replaying the events from earlier. The timekeeper watched, disappointed, as Raven fed off of the other ghost's life force, almost killing the octopus. _It seems that she has less control over herself, than before. This isn't good. It's just another reason she should be locked up again. _

"Hey Clocky! You've been quiet for a while. What are you watching out there? I'm pretty sure I heard some screaming" yelled Dan from his thermos in the back of the room. Clockwork promptly ignored the comment and continued thinking. He waved his staff once more and the viewer zoomed in on Danny, Sam, and Tucker.

_These three can help her though. Daniel and his friends did the impossible before, _thought Clockwork, remembering how Danny defeated his evil future and Pariah Dark. _They can teach Raven. If I can prove to the Observants that she isn't a threat, then perhaps they will let Raven go. The only question left is how will I get her to come here? She doesn't remember, and I can't risk exposing her location to the Observants by going there myself, nor can I risk the afterlives of the other ghosts by sending to Amity Park to fetch her. Raven's friends might not be able to stop her a second time._ The Time Master paused in his pacing as a new thought dawned upon him. _That leaves only one other choice. Time to visit an old friend. _Clockwork spun his staff, creating a blue portal. A clock's minute hand appeared, and spun on its axis, before both the Master of Time and the portal disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"Hello? Clockwork?!" Dan was greeted only with silence. "I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! ANSWER ME!" More silence. "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?!"

* * *

In another part of the Ghost Zone, a large minute hand appeared out of nowhere, and spun on its axis, creating a bright blue portal. The portal disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving the Master of Time in its place. The old spirit examined his surroundings, and smiled as he remembered the times he had been there in the past. Clockwork had arrived in the Realm of Night. The area was shrouded in darkness, a glowing crescent moon hung in the sky; a feature that the rest of the Ghost Zone lacked. Gnarled black trees were everywhere; their bare branches seemed to reach out, trying to grab whatever unsuspecting specter that was foolish enough to float into their domain. The ground was barely visible under the thick roots, making it hard to walk on, if Clockwork hadn't been floating of course. A few meters away stood a great castle. The dark stone almost blended in with the dark background, and black vines were climbing up the sides. Large, black double doors barred the entrance. Floating up to the fortress, Clockwork knocked on one of the doors.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock._

The hollow sound echoed slightly, standing out in the endless void of silence. The muffled scuffle of feet, or perhaps something else, could be heard as the castle's inhabitant hurried to the door to greet their visitor. The door was thrown open, and a familiar face came into view. The spirit was wearing a purple helmet with a curved goat horn on each side. His body resembled the night sky; black and covered with shining stars. Instead of legs, the ghost had tentacles. He had a small goatee on his pale, feminine face and a thin scar running through his right eye. The spirit glared angrily at the visitor for disturbing his peace and quiet, before realizing who it was.

"Clockwork! You didn't tell me you were going to visit! I would have made tea." The Dream Spirit pouted, sounding disappointed.

"I wasn't planning to, Nocturne. It was last minute" replied Clockwork, amused at his friend's expression. "May I come in?"

"Yes, yes. Of Course" said Nocturne, ushering his guest inside the castle and closing the door. The inside of the castle was pretty much like the outside. There was no light source whatsoever, making it pitch black. Clockwork couldn't even see two feet in front of him, though that didn't stop Nocturne from leading him down the long twisting hallway, to the living room. This room was different from the rest of the castle. For starters, it had a few lit candles placed on several side-tables. Two large, grey couches faced each other, near a black coffee table. "Please, have a seat. I'll go make some tea." The timekeeper was about to decline the offer, when Nocturne left the room. Clockwork sighed as he sat down.

_Maybe this wasn't a good idea. If the Observants find out they'll annoy me to no end. I don't want to have to ask them to pardon Nocturne for any 'crimes' he commits while he's in the human world._

Clockwork was deep in thought as Nocturne returned, carrying a tray with a teapot and two teacups. The Dream Spirit sat down on the second couch, across from his friend, and poured tea into each of the cups.

"So, why are you here?" asked Nocturne, handing one of the cups to Clockwork.

"Can't an old friend come visit?" replied Clockwork, voice filled with mirth, as he accepted the cup. Nocturne snorted as he sipped his tea.

"Yes, well, you don't usually just pop out of nowhere. Now, what do you want timekeeper?"

"Careful. You're beginning to sound like Dusk" chided the Time Master.

"Flattery will get you nowhere" teased Nocturne

"Very well" said Clockwork. "I'm here because I would like to ask for a favor."

"What kind of favor?" probed Nocturne, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not going to help you get back at the Observants of that's what you're thinking, even if I want to. I'm in enough trouble from the time I tried to put the world to sleep." The Dream Spirit mumbled something about a ghost child. Clockwork tried to hide a smile, remembering how Daniel had defeated Nocturne. The Dream Spirit had been sour about it for weeks, but that defeat had also gave Nocturne a well-deserved humbling. The old spirit had grown arrogant and prideful over the centuries after he lost his master, the previous Master of Dreams, Dusk. Attempting to put the world to sleep was something not even his former master would think of. Luckily, Daniel defeated Nocturne and knocked some sense into him after their last encounter.

"No need to worry" reassured Clockwork. "This is something you're more specialized in." This seemed to peak the other spirit's interest.

"So, who do I get to torture?" asked Nocturne eagerly.

"Actually, I had something different in mind." Nocturne deflated at the words. "I need you to invade someone's dreams" said the Timekeeper.

"This 'someone' wouldn't happen to be young Raven, now would it?" accused Nocturne.

"How did you know she's out of prison?"

"I have my ways" replied Nocturne with a smirk.

"You've been eavesdropping at the Observatory haven't you?" inquired Clockwork.

"_Maybe_..." teased the Dream Spirit. "But then again, you _did_ just tell me, so we can just pretend that I didn't." Clockwork just shook his head in disbelief.

"You shouldn't be doing that. The Observants might find out." scolded The Master of Time. "You're in enough trouble as it is."

"And you shouldn't be groveling at their feet, if they have any feet that is" scoffed the Dream Spirit.

"I don't _grovel_" Clockwork proclaimed, "Just because they give me orders doesn't mean I'm inclined to execute them"

"Now, let's hope those pesky Observants don't hear that" mused Nocturne.

"Anyway, will you do it?"

"Do _what_ exactly?" Nocturne pointed out. "I'm still unclear as to _what_ you expect me to do?"

"As you know, Raven is free. She's hiding in Amity Park and disguised herself as a human to avoid detection" explained Clockwork. "However, it would seem that she has also hidden her own memories from herself. I-"

"You want me to resurface those memories by going into her dreams" finished the Dream Spirit. The Timekeeper felt a tinge of annoyance at being interrupted.

"Yes, well... Thankfully the barrier is weak. Breaking through it should be relatively easy. You will just need to show her a few familiar images."

"And if that doesn't work?" probed Nocturne.

"Then you'll have to get Raven to come to my tower. I will fix her memory myself" replied Clockwork.

"And the Observants are_ okay_ with all of this?!" exclaimed the Dream Master.

"Well... Not exactly... I didn't actually tell them." Nocturne burst into laughter.

"Haha! Those cyclopes are going to be _so_ mad after all of this" he said before continuing to laugh.

"So you'll do it?" asked Clockwork even though he knew the answer already.

"Of course I will!" answered Nocturne gleefully. "This is going to be _so_ fun!" Clockwork just sighed again.

_That's one issue dealt with. Hopefully Nocturne won't mess with too many other people while he's out there._

* * *

Lf: Yay! Chapter five is done and in only...*quickly rushes off to check the calendar and then runs back* 9 days! Okay, maybe 9 days is a bit too long of a wait time, but I have a lot of stuff I needed to get done this week. I'm taking an online course to get my health and technology education credits and life has been a bit hectic with all the work I have to do. And to top it all off, I had major writer's block for a good part of the week. This chapter was shorter than expected, probably because it was just a conversation between two people and didn't include any action or whatever. Also, Dusk (and Clockwise, who will be added later) belong(s) to xwocketx.

Dan: Why are you writing giant monologues at the end of chapters now?

LF: No reason. I'm definitely not trying to make this chapter longer by writing more stuff at the end... Nope! Definitely not doing that. *nervous laugh*

Dan: Uh huh... *totally not convinced*

LF: Um... So... I hope you've enjoyed this short chapter. Please leave a comment, favorite or whatever it is that you usually do! I hope I can write faster in the future so you all won't have to wait forever (Or even better! In the future, there should be a vaccine for writer's block! That would make a good satire story... Maybe I should write that... Or you guys can if you want, just give me credit for the idea. Maybe a little footnote or something... Great! I'm rambling again. Back to the main topic). Remember to leave a comment and maybe some creative criticism! Have a great rest of the day world!

Dan: Arrg! The endings' too sun-shiny! IT BURNS!

LF: Well now you've ruined the sun-shiny ending. Are you happy now?

Dan: Yes.


	7. Explanations Are A Pain

Hourglass

By: LastFright

* * *

Disclaimer:

I do not own Danny Phantom.

Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman.

This story is just for fun.

However, my OC belongs to me as well as the cover image.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Explanations Are A Pain**

Back in good ol' Amity Park, the rainstorm had shrunk to a drizzle. The soft pitter-patter of the rain could be heard while people wandered to and fro. The lightning and thunder had ceased and the clouds had almost disappeared, leaving behind giant splotches of light blue in the vast sea of grey. The city was quiet and peaceful; that is if quiet and peaceful meant loud and hectic.

People were scrambling away from the rubble and dust left behind from the ghost attack, wondering where the infamous Danny Phantom had disappeared off to. Just moments ago, they had witnessed the ghost boy fighting a giant ghostly octopus, which then mysteriously disappeared in the blink of an eye, as did the town's self-proclaimed protector. The beast had torn through the roof of the local theater as well as taken large chunks out of the surrounding buildings. Multiple cars had been demolished in the fight. They lay crushed on the road, with small funnels of smoke pouring from underneath the hoods. Several street lamps lay bent on the ground, lights occasionally flickering on and off, struggling to stay functional. Several vehicles were being driven away, their drivers trying to not crash into the chunks of cement buried in the road. The police had arrived at the scene to access the damage, their cars bathing the area in red and blue as the lights alternated between the two colors over and over again. The obnoxiously loud sirens blared continuously prompting people to leave the perimeter. Several ambulances were driving away, alarms blaring just as loudly, as they hurried injured civilians to the hospital. The Guys in White, government operated ghost hunters, had arrived, wearing their trademark platinum white suits, and coordinating with each other to find the best way to capture their targets. As if that wasn't enough noise, a high-tech, silver, tank-like RV hurtled through the streets, careening into the area. A dark green 'F' within a toxic-green ghost-like shape was plastered on each side. The vehicle came to an abrupt halt near the partially demolished theater, nearing crashing into the four surprised teenagers that had been near it. The front doors flew open and a man and a woman in jumpsuits jumped out. The man was wearing an orange and black jumpsuit. He had blue eyes and black hair that was starting to whiten from age. The woman was wearing a blue and black jumpsuit. The suit's hood and goggles were on, covering her hair and eyes. The pair was each carrying a weapon that seemed to be powered by glowing, green ectoplasm. They pointed them in all directions, before they realized there was no threat in the area.

"Danny!" shouted the woman, rushing over to the teen. She wrapped the boy in a bear hug, practically squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"-Hey mom –_ack!-_ Can't- breath!" said Danny as he gasped for air

"Sorry dear" she said sheepishly pulling away from the hug. "Are you all right, sweetie? Did the ghost hurt you?" she asked while checking her son for any injuries.

"No, mom. I'm fine. _Really!_" answered Danny pushing her away, slightly blushing in embarrassment.

"_We're_ fine too, Mrs. Fenton." called Sam while Tucker and Raven tried to hold in their giggles.

"Alright then" said the woman, seeing that her son had no visible injuries. "Jack, did you find the ghost yet?"

"Not yet Maddie, but I'm on it!" he answered pulling out a scanner and turning it on. It instantly started beeping. "Hmm... the Fenton Finder says Danny's the ghost..."

"You'd have to be some sort of _moron_ to not notice the ghost directly ahead" said the device's electronic voice, while pointing in Danny's direction.

"Jack, Danny is _not_ a ghost" reminded his wife.

"You kids need to get somewhere safe" said Jack. "_We'll_ handle the ghost."

"But the ghost-" Raven got cut off by Danny covering her mouth with his hand.

"The ghost went that way, dad!" he said, pointing down the road.

"We've got a runner!" shouted Jack to his wife. The two of them clambered back into the RV and drove off, in hot pursuit of a ghost that wasn't going to be found.

"Come on," urged Danny, leading the other three towards Fenton Works. "We'll talk about this at my house while my parents are distracted. We've about an hour before they give up."

"Your dad looks really familiar" mumbled Raven absent-mindedly, while following the halfa.

"What?"

"Uh... I have an umbrella...?" Raven pulled out her grey umbrella and opened it. Sam did the same. The four friends, sharing the two umbrellas to prevent themselves from getting any more soaked than they already were, continued on their way to Fenton Works.

By the time the foursome reached Danny's house, the rain had stopped completely. The tall brick building was on the corner of two streets. A large sign with the words 'Fenton Works' stuck out in the middle, pointing back at the house. Overhead was an operation center built onto the roof. Numerous satellites were attached to the ops center, making many question how the roof hadn't given in yet from the weight.

"Um... Nice house...?" commented Raven hesitantly looking up at the looming structure. "How does the giant satellite... thingy stay on the roof?"

"That's the Ops Center, and I have no idea." replied Danny, knocking on the door. The teal door opened up, revealing a slightly older orange haired teenager with aqua colored eyes. She was wearing a long sleeve, V-neck black shirt, aqua pants and headband, and black flats.

"Danny!" she said joyfully, and then realizing he was wet. "Why are you wet?"

"Yeah, good to see ya too Jazz" responded Danny sarcastically.

"Oh, hey Sam, Tucker," said Jazz enthusiastically as she let Danny's friends in, "and... I'm sorry, but who are you?" Jazz pointed at Raven.

"Oh yeah. Uh... Jazz, meet Raven. Raven, this is my sister, Jazz" answered Danny.

"Nice to meet you Raven!" Jazz shook the newcomer's hand.

"Nice to meet ya too, Jazz!"

"Great! Now that we've got the introductions over with, it's time to get down to business" interrupted Danny.

"_Ahem_" coughed Jazz. "Danny, aren't you forgetting something?" The red head gestured at the group's wet clothes.

"Right! Jazz, can you...uh, give Raven a tour of the house while we go...check the surveillance cameras for...ghosts?" Danny, Tucker, and Sam made a run for the stairs.

"Wait!" interjected Raven, grabbing the group's attention, pausing her friends in mid-run. "You have video cameras in your house? And really? _That's_ the best excuse you can come up with? You only need one person to check security footages, unless of course, you're a half ghost with a secret to hide."

"Um... I have no idea what you're talking about" lied Danny.

"Yeah" agreed Tucker, "Danny's just a human."

"Why would you think he's a ghost anyway?" asked Sam nervously.

"_Seriously?!_ I saw you turn back into a human" stated Raven matter-of-factly. "Besides, _Danny Fenton... Danny Phantom_... It's so obvious; I'm surprised not everyone has figured it out yet."

"No, no, no, no, no. You've _obviously_ got the wrong idea!" insisted Jazz. "There's _no_ such thing as ghosts! Besides, don't you think you could have just been hallucinating or something?"

"Not really. After all, I almost got eaten by a ghost. Unless a few dozen people were also having the same exact hallucination that I was, that theory makes no sense."

"Looks like the jig is up, dude" whispered Tucker to Danny.

"Ya think?" whispered Sam.

"Okay, okay. You got me. I'm half ghost" said Danny reluctantly. "So, what now?"

"Get this water off me and I'll keep it a secret" replied Raven with a grin. Danny grinned as well.

"Deal" His eyes glowed green as he turned intangible.

"Wait! Not _here_! You'll make a mess!" shouted Jazz. But it was too late. A second later and the water fell off instantly.

Danny reached out and poked his friend's arm. Raven suddenly felt empty, like she was hollow. She looked down in time to see the last of the rain water fall to the ground.

_That was weird,_ Raven thought as she became tangible once more. Looking back up she saw Danny do the same thing to Sam and Tucker. Soon, there was a large puddle of water at the doorstep. Jazz was gaping at the mess.

"Don't worry" reassured Raven. "I'll clean it up. I just need a towel or mop." Without waiting for an answer, Raven left the room, heading to the kitchen to find something to clean up the mess.

"So, Danny, what happened?" demanded Jazz, taking a seat on a nearby couch

"Well, we were gonna watch Trinity of Doom II, but we got there early and a ghost attacked and wrecked the theater" began Danny.

"Then Raven turned out to be a ghost and beat the other ghost. We have it in the thermos" added Sam.

"Speaking of the thermos, shouldn't we send the ghost back to the Ghost Zone?" asked Tucker.

"Good poinT, Tuck. We can't keep it locked up forever" said Danny, taking out the thermos from his backpack and heading down to the lab in the basement.

"Wait, Raven's a ghost? But she looks human" remarked Jazz in confusion.

"She's probably disguising herself as a human, like what Danny's evil future self did when he came here to make sure Danny became him. Either that, or she just looks human, and his ghost sense is broken" theorized Tucker, sitting down as well and taking out his PDA. A series of beeps could be heard as he started fiddling with it once more.

"So... why haven't you guys sucked her into the thermos yet?" asked the older teen.

"We want to know why she's here in the first place. She's been here for a whole week, and nothing bad happened" explained Sam. "No one turned into depressed zombies. No one almost got vaporized. No one got thrown back to Medieval times. No one was in any danger, besides from the usual ghost attacks. She didn't do anything. She just posed as a student! Why would a ghost do that? She acted like a normal kid and I wanna know why." Sam took a deep breath when she finished her rant.

"Wow" commented Tucker, just as Danny got back up the stairs. "That was almost as long as one of Technus' speeches."

"At least she doesn't go around talking about herself in the third person" quipped Danny plopping down on the couch and stuffing the Fenton Thermos in his backpack. Sam threw her head back and groaned.

"You guys are impossible" she moaned as she took a seat. Tucker and Danny snickered at the Goth's frustration.

"How long does it take to find a towel?" said Jazz impatiently.

"Well it's only been four minutes Jazz. Give me some credit here. I'm new to this building you know" complained Raven, standing at the doorway to the kitchen with a simple white washcloth in her hand. She promptly walked over to the puddle and started cleaning up the mess.

"So... What'd I miss?" she asked nonchalantly, opening the door and wringing out the water.

"Sam's been improving in monologuing" said Tucker with a grin. Sam glared at the techno geek, immediately silencing him.

"Well at least nothing big really happened while I was gone, but then again, how much can really happen in four minutes, right?" Raven put the towel back in the kitchen and went over to the group. "What? Did you see a ghost or something? What's with that look? It's like you're waiting for me to explain something."

"Well, you do owe us an explanation" agreed Danny.

"Fine. I'll be an open book." Raven jumped onto the couch. "Ask away!"

"Okay then," replied Danny. "First off, who are you exactly?"

"Ooh, that's an easy one! My name is Raven Mors. I am fifteen years old and five feet and four inches tall.. I like all sorts of music. I live at-"

"No! Not that! We want to know who you really are, not who this fake identity you've created. What are you doing in Amity Park? What are you planning? What's your actual name?" asked Danny, a bit irritated.

"Dude you should probably calm down." suggested Sam.

"Yeah. You can't just assume I'm lying about my name."

"How about this question," interrupted Tucker. "Where did you live before coming to Amity Park?"

"I lived in... In..." she closed her eyes as she tried to remember where she had lived, but all she came up with was nothing. "I- I don't know." she stuttered. "I don't remember anything from before last week."

"Do you know why you're in Amity Park then?" questioned Sam.

"Nope. Not a clue."

"So what happened at the theater then?" probed Jazz. "Sam said you were a ghost."

"I am?"

"You had glowing eyes and shot an ectobeam at the octopus!" exclaimed Tucker

"I did?"

"It was running away from you!" stated Sam.

"It was?"

"_YES!_" insisted Danny, Sam, and Tucker at the same time.

"Well... I don't feel like a ghost... A ghost's a dead person or some other thing, and I don't feel dead. Even if I was, there's nothing I could do about it." Raven sighed. "Let's say I _was_ a ghost, why would it matter? I haven't done anything illegal... Have I?"

"Not yet" said Tucker cheerfully.

"Wow, Tuck. Thanks for cheering me up" she replied sarcastically. "Wait a minute..."

"What?" asked Danny.

"If I'm a ghost, how come I didn't show up on your dad's scanner-thingy."

"The Fenton Finder?"

"Hey! That's right!" interrupted Tucker. "It didn't pick up on your ectosignature."

"Danny's half ghost and was human at the time, but the Fenton Finder still detected him. So why didn't it call Raven out?" wondered Sam.

"Because I'm not a ghost?" offered Raven hesitantly.

"Actually, that just means you're not a halfa" explained Tucker, "Otherwise, the Fenton Finder would have labeled you as a ghost.

"So you're saying I'm a full blown ghost." The techno-geek nodded. "Tell me then, why do I look human?"

"You're just disguised as a human!" exclaimed Jazz. "It's like the time Danny's evil future-self came here to make sure Danny became him by pretending to be Danny!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about" said Raven bluntly.

"Forget that last part. The point is, you _are_ a ghost" asserted Jazz. "You just disguised yourself to blend in, meaning you should be able to turn back, right?"

"It's not like I can just turn into a ghost whenever I feel like it, like Danny. Besides, aren't you scared I might try to attack you guys? What if I hurt someone? I-I don't think I could live with that."

"Well, technically, you're dead" interrupted Danny.

"I'M NOT A GHOST!" screamed Raven.

"There's only one way to know that for sure" said Sam with a smirk. "Hey Jazz, remember the time you used the Fenton Ghost Peeler to save Danny from Spectra?"

"Yeah, why?... Wait, we can't use that on Raven!"

"The Fenton Ghost Peeler? Uh… That doesn't sound very safe… What exactly does that thing do?"

"It forces a ghost out of their disguise" replied Tucker.

"Sounds painful...You guys aren't gonna use that thing on me, are you?"

"No. But that could be the only way to know for sure" answered Danny.

"Why do you three, want me to turn into a ghost anyway?! Why can't I just stay the way I am?"

"You need to learn to control your powers, Raven. Back at the theater, you lost control of yourself, and almost killed the octopus" explained Sam glumly.

"If ghosts are already dead, how are you supposed to kill them?" She muttered.

"We were lucky to get you to snap out of it, but that might not happen a second time" said Tucker.

"Okay then, if the Ghost Peeler is plan B, what's plan A?"

"You change back by yourself" said Danny.

"How?"

"That's the problem" said Sam. "None of us know how a ghost disguises themselves. So we don't know how they go ghost again. Spectra was forced out of her disguise, and Danny's a halfa so it's not the same. Raven leaned backwards, thinking to herself.

"Hey, Jazz? You said Danny's evil future-self pretended to be Danny. When you found out he was a fake, did he turn into his true form so he could gloat about what he was going to do and give the whole 'no one can stop me' speech?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"It's what any other typical bad guy would do. Anyway, how did evil Danny turn back?"

"Well..." said Jazz trying to remember the experience. "It sorta looked like the way Danny transforms."

"That's it!" exclaimed Raven. "Danny just has to walk me through the process of how he changes into a ghost. It's the same thing."

"Actually, that just might work out!" said Tucker

'Alright then, let's do it" declared Danny. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be" said Raven, taking a deep breath.

"Okay… Um… I want you to close your eyes and look inside yourself. Try to look for your core, that's your source of power."

"How am I supposed to know when I find it?"

"Try to find a spot that doesn't feel the same as the rest of you. I have an ice core, so I just look for a cold area. You might have something different though..."

"So you're trying to tell me that you have no idea what I'm looking for."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Okay, here goes nothing." Raven closed her eyes and relaxed letting the darkness overcome her. She looked inside of herself, searching for that one spark that contained what was supposedly her real self. Minutes passed and Raven came up with absolutely nothing.

_This is hopeless. I'm just a normal human. There is nothing ghostly about me._

All around her was darkness, and she couldn't find anything that seemed different. All she could feel was the growing tension in the room. All she could hear was the continuous tapping... or was that ticking.

"Whoever's doing that, stop it. It's not helping" she said in annoyance.

"Doing what?" asked Sam.

"That ticking sound!"

"Hate to break it to you Rae, but that's not us" commented Tucker

"Then where's that coming from?" mumbled Raven.

Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...

Raven almost gasped when she realized the ticking was coming from within her. It was the ticking of a clock.

_This is weird... I don't remember eating a watch... Actually, I don't remember eating ever. Do I even eat?_

Raven felt a sort of familiarity towards it, like she had known it her whole life and it had always been there. She suddenly felt like a part of her was missing, like a puzzle missing the final piece.

_That ticking... that's me! I want that part of me back. Wait! Don't go!_ The ticking was getting quieter, as if it was getting further away. She tried to reach out to it, Raven ignored the rest of the world, focusing solely on the constant ticking. Slowly by surely, the ticking grew louder and louder, until it drowned out all other sounds. She could faintly hear her friends shouting something, but that didn't matter.

_I just want to be me again. _Gradually the ticking quieted, becoming faint but still very much there. Raven opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the light after having them eyes closed for so long. The three teenagers and young adult were staring at her. "What? Is there something on my face?" Raven patted her face, before realizing she wasn't wearing the same clothes as earlier. She look at herself.

Her navy shirt and black pants had disappeared, leaving behind a mortar grey dress that went to her knees. The sleeves were long and pointed, obscuring her hands. A nero grey caplet was wrapped around her shoulders. The small cape was held together by a red and gold circular clip with several grey-white feathers trailing out from the bottom half, resembling a half daisy. Raven noticed that she was still wearing her black flats, but now had on dark grey leggings.

"Anyone have a mirror?" she asked, slightly shocked at the change.

"I got one" said Jazz, reaching into her bag, pulling out a compact mirror, and handing to the ghost.

"Thanks" said Raven gratefully, opening the piece of plastic and looking at herself. Raven noticed that she seemed much paler than before. "at least I'm not neon green like that ghost from earlier" she murmured, poking herself to make sure it was really her that the mirror was showing. Raven's hair had changed from the normal jet black to a silvery white, and was being kept in place with a black headband. _Strange how it's inverted. Why's that?_ she wondered, brushing aside her bangs, revealing crimson eyes. Unlike last time, however, only the irises were red. Raven just stared at herself for a few more moments. "So... This is me..." she observed. "I don't look as weird as I thought I would!"

"Woohoo! We did it!" exclaimed Danny jumping in the air.

"There's just a slight problem, guys" interrupted Sam, looking out the window at the pair of ghost hunters.

"What's that?" asked Danny.

"Your parents are back!" panicked Tucker. "Quick, look human!"

"How?!"

"Dye your hair!" shouted Sam.

"I don't have time!"

"Then find a way to hide yourself!" shouted Tucker.

"Don't they have scanners?!"

"I've got an idea!" exclaimed Danny, pulling out the Fenton Thermos.

"SOUP?! THAT'S YOUR PLAN?!"

"It's a Fenton Thermos" he replied uncapping the device. "Try not to yell while you're in it."

"How am I supposed to fit in th-" The ghost girl was cut off when the blue funnel of light shot out of the thermos and sucked her inside. "HEY! LET ME OUT'A HERE!"

"SHHH!" shushed Danny, shoving the thermos in his bag, just as his mom kicked open the door.

"FREEZE, YOU ODD MANIFESTATION OF ECTOPLASMIC ENERGY AND POST-HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS!" yelled Maddie, aiming an Ecto-Bazooka in their direction.

* * *

LF: Don't worry people, I'm not dead... not that any of you would really care, since you guys don't know me personally... The only reason this took so long was because I decided to give Raven's character a slight revision and costume change, etc. and then i got sidetracked... Anyway, I might end up changing a few things from earlier chapters- slight changes! A color here, and a description change there... nothing to be worried about. Hopefully I won't take forever next time... Oh wait I probably just jinxed it. Yes, people I do believe in that sort of thing...sort of. Back to talking about the chapter! I got the Fenton Finder from the show obviously. I love that thing! It has _so_ much personality for a machine! _Seriously_, how often does a tracker call it's creator a moron? It's one of my favorite inventions, right next to the Boooo-merang, The Fenton Anti-Creep Stick, and the Fenton Thermos (Oh, how I wish I had a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick). The Ecto-Bazooka isn't the official name of the weapon... no, I'm not talking about the Fenton Foamer. I don't think it was ever given an official name though. And yes, nero is a color (and also some Roman guy). It's a really dark grey... speaking of dark grey, did you know, dark grey as a color is actually lighter than grey so in the chapter, when I said dark grey, you should think of a silvery color? Also, grey and gray are different colors. I spell 'gray' as 'grey' because that's just me. I don't like spelling it as 'gray'. I don't know why, but it's just harder for me to do so. So whenever you see 'grey' in my writing just think 'gray'. The correct way to spell grey in the United States is 'gray'. In Britain, England, and some other places, it's spelled 'grey'. So in case you need a reminder, The 'a' in 'gray' is for the Americans. The 'e' in 'grey' is for the English.

Dan: Great, you're boring people with Color Theory and Grammar 101.

LF: You know what would be awesome?! Teaching Color Theory in school!

Dan: Isn't that already a class?

LF: Isn't that Music Theory?

Dan: How would I know? I never finished high school.

LF: Anyway, remember to leave a comment, favorite, or even a follow, and remember how much I appreciate the fact that you stopped and took the time to read my story.


End file.
